Be my Happy Ending
by Flypaperfornightmares7
Summary: A series of OUAT one shots. Contains mainly Captain Swan. Currently accepting requests. Chapter 27: Killian talks to Liam using the Ale of Seonaidh (DunBroch).
1. Tallahassee

**So, I finally decided to make a story of just one-shots (took me writing 16 one shots to finally do it). If you have a request for a one shot, leave it in the comments.**

 **This one shot was inspired by the script tease for 5x05 where they talk about the dreamcatcher. This takes place during the six weeks of peace during season 4.**

 **Hope you enjoy it. Follow this story for new one shots and do not forget to review or leave a request!**

 _Tallahassee_

Peace. Three weeks of absolutely nothing. Nothing was a relative word in Storybrooke, but no villains around meant no complaining. Sure, they were still trying to find a way to get the fairies out of that hat, but things were relaxing. Everyone was able to breathe for a moment and actually live their lives.

Killian and Emma had taken the past three weeks of peace in stride. They did normal couple things like go to the movies or dinner, have a picnic or go sailing with Henry. They had family dinners with her parents, her son and her brother and sometimes even Regina when she was feeling up to it. Henry spent a lot of his time with Regina now, who was still having a rough time after Robin Hood and Roland left. She was improving though, a fact that relieved everyone.

Today Emma did not find herself behind the desk of the sheriff station, but at Mr. Gold's shop. Belle had been busy trying to find a way to free the fairies from the hat, so Emma and Killian offered to go into the shop for a day and clean it up for her. She had been more that receptive. Belle had also been struggling after making Gold cross the town line, but she knew it was for the best. She was slowly, but surely, getting over him.

Killian had suggested that Emma take the front and he take the back, but Emma decided against it. Gold possessed a lot of magic in his shop and she did not want Killian accidently opening it without knowing what it was. She also wanted to spend as much time with him as she could before another threat made their quiet moments a rarity. Her pirate had no arguments for spending time with her.

"Swan, look at this." Killian said, bring a long thin box over to her. She opened it and smiled. Inside of it as her father's sword, the one she had used to slay the dragon.

"It belonged to a royal. You can tell by the designs." Killian explained to her.

"I know." She nodded. "It was my father's. Gold had me use it when I fought Maleficent."

"Aye, Swan, quite the sword fighter you are." He teased.

"Hey, I beat you, pirate."

"You did not beat me if the game was rigged."

"What are you saying?" Emma scoffed. "You let me win?"

"I might have been a villain, love, but keeping you from your son would have been cruel." He told her.

"I think you liked me." Emma smirked.

"What can I say, love. You captured my heart from the first moment we met." He confessed. Emma blushed, not knowing what to say. They had not had many serious conversations about their feelings yet. They were taking this slow, doing this right. They had both been hurt in the past and did not want to lose what they had.

Instead of responding, Emma just turned around and continued sorting objects. Killian soon did the same and they returned to their casual banter, filled with a few moments of silence. Emma was organizing what she hoped was just a few simple potions when something caught her eye.

"No way." She said, going to pick up the object. She must have caught Killian's attention, because he came up behind her, curious as to what she was holding.

"You alright, love?" He questioned her.

"I didn't think he still had this." Emma whispered.

"What is that, love?"

Emma held up the object to get a better view. "It is a dreamcatcher. Gold had me use it a long time ago to see Pongo's thoughts. It was one of the first times I used magic."

"Is it some sort of magical device?" He asked her. Emma laughed, relizing that he must have never seen one before. She was not sure if they were a common item back in the Enchanted Forest.

"No, not really. They are supposed to keep the bad dreams away and only let the good dreams come though. Neal used to call them 'flypaper for nightmares'."

Killian was silent at the mention of Neal. She had never told him before about the significance of dreamcatchers between the two. "What that something special for you both?" He finally asked her.

"Yeah." Emma revealed. "I guess it was. He had one in his apartment. That was how I knew it was his when you told me to go there when you found me in New York.

"He'd be happy for you, Swan." Killian whispered, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"I know." She said, leaning back into his embrace. "I still miss him a lot."

"Me too, love. But now we can remember him by being happy. Isn't that what he wanted for you?"

"Yeah. He wanted me to go and find Tallahassee." She said, turning around to face him.

"Talla-" He started to ask, but she cut him off. "I will explain later. But for know, you just need to know that I finally found it, thanks to you."


	2. Hold Me

**New one shot based on a request. If you have a request, leave it in the reviews. Please follow, favorite and comment. Love you all!**

 **Request from TheArkAngel**

 **Prompt: Emma having a nightmare about one of her foster parents and going to Killian for comfort**

Hold Me

 _The room was empty. It felt like the room of flames that she had experienced after Maleficent put the town under a sleeping curse._

 _It was different though. White. Empty. Quiet-too quiet. It was a deafening silence that could drive a man mad._

 _Then it started. The whispers. They murmured to themselves, growing louder with every syllable. She could not understand the words. All there was was murmurs. Murmurs._

" _No one loves you." She turned around to find the source of the sound but couldn't._

" _You are a freak." It said again. She turned in circles, trying to find where the noise was coming from. "No parents, no purpose."_

" _You are a meal ticket-always have been, always will be."_

" _Orphan."_

" _Alone."_

" _Pathetic."_

" _Orphan."_

" _You are too old-no one adopts the old kids."_

" _No one will ever love you."_

 _She kept turning around, slowly. The noise came from every corner of the emptiness. It shook the room. The voice was loud and commanding. It was familiar._

" _No one will-"_

" _Shut up!" She yelled._

" _No one loves you. No one can. There is something wrong with you." The voice said again._

" _That is not true!" She yelled to the emptiness. Suddenly, a man appeared. He was older, heavy-set, but strong enough to hurt a child. He had done it to many children, herself included._

 _Gary._

 _Gary Loumen._

 _Her foster father. She was nine. He was drunk._

 _She spoke up. He hit her. Hard._

 _And hit her again. And again. And again._

 _And it did not end there._

" _You think you are better than all this-better than the stereotypes. No one loves you. You are worthless." He mocked her._

" _You don't know me." She whispered. "Don't know what I have become."_

" _You became evil. Wouldn't be proud of that." He slurred. His drunk voice was familiar. He sounded like that more than he sounded sober. She was unsure she had ever interacted with a sober Gary. He could have fooled her._

" _You're entire life was orchestrated for you. They only love you because you save them. That is all you are to any of them- someone to get them out of their messes. They do not love you. They gave you up! No one loves you. They are using you, just like we all used you. You are a meal ticket again, Anna."_

" _Emma!" She yelled._

" _Doesn't matter. Useless people do not get names." He said, stepping closer to her. Despite his drunkenness, his steps were firm and straight. He stepped with confidence and a devious smirk on his face._

" _No one can love someone like you." He said, raising his hand to strike her. It was not the first time he had laid his hand against her violently. He hit her for fun, for enjoyment, and to remind her that she was unloved._

" _No one loves someone like you."_

Emma woke up in a cold sweat. She was silent, learning after years of growing up in foster homes that yelling from fear would get her nowhere except in trouble. She had bolted upright in bed, but felt nothing besides her. No One besides her. Killian was gone.

Her husband of several years would never leave her she rationalized. Never could. He loved her. He truly loved her. Her parents loved her. Her son loved her. She was loved.

Emma sat up, trying to calm her breathing. She was so focused on calming herself that she did not hear Killian re enter their bedroom until he spoke her name. She looked up at him but said nothing.

"Are you alright, love?" He said, slowly walking back towards the bed.

"Yeah, fine. I just didn't know where you went." She nodded hurriedly.

"I went to go check on Evie." He told was not rare for him to get up in the night to go and check on their young daughter, Evie. "Are you alright, love? You seem vexed."

"Fine."

"You are an awful liar, Swan." He told her, climbing back into the bed. "Tell me what is wrong."

She opened her mouth, but words did not come out. The word _unloved_ kept replaying in her head. Not just in Gary's voice, but in every foster parent's voice. Every adult who gave her away, told her she was not good enough.

Killian moved towards her and enveloped her in his arms. He, awkwardly, laid down with her in his arms. They were both on their sides, with her wrapped firmly against his chest. He kissed the top of her head and rubbed her back, letting her know he was not going anywhere.

"It was empty." She finally said in a quiet voice. "There were whispers. They sounded like the ones that I would here when I was the Dark One. I thought I was going mad because I could not understand them. Then," Her voice started to break. "I heard these sentences. He kept telling me that no one loved me, that I was an orphan and alone. It was one of my old foster parents-one of the bad ones. He knew that I became the Dark One. He...he told me that no one could love me."

She remained quiet for a moment, not knowing what to say after that. She hated feeling like this- vulnerable and weak. She felt like that lost little girl she had been all those years ago. He did not say anything, which scared her. What if Gary, and everyone else in her life, was right? She was unlovable and it was just a matter of time before Killian noticed.

He tightened his grip around her, pulled her closer to him. "That man is a bloody idiot." He whispered to her. "You are so incredibly loved, my darling. Your parents look at you like you are their world. Your son could not possibly think higher of you. And, you-you are what makes my life worth living. You and that beautiful girl in the other room. You are my everything, love. You keep my feet on the group and my heart in my chest." She raised her eyebrow at him. He just continued. "I love you with everything in me, Swan. Do not let some blubbering buffoon tell you otherwise."

"He said that you only love me because I save you." She whispered, still having trouble believing.

"I fell in love with you when you left me upon that beanstalk. Quite the opposite of saving, don't you think love. I love you for who you are, Swan, not what you do. You are strong, independent, loyal, brave, smart, sarcastic from time to time, but I deserve that. You are bloody gorgeous, an amazing daughter, a brilliant mother, and the best wife I could ever wish for. We do not love you because you only because you save us. It is one of the many things we, and I especially, adore about you."

"You adore me?" She teased, wanting to get out of the serious conversation.

"Of course, my love. Do you believe me when I say I love you?" He asked her.

She didn't answer. Instead, she wiggle a bit out of his embrace so she could kiss him. He was more that receptive to that response.

"How's that for your answer?" She smiled at him.

"I am not sure, love. Why don't you try again and I will tell you?"

And so she did.


	3. Welcome to the 21st Century, Pirate

**Another one shot! Leave requests for one shots in the reviews! Please comment, favorite and follow! It all means so much**

 **Request from** **daniOUAT624**

 **Prompt-write one where Killian is struggling to adapt to the modern world**

 _Welcome to the 21st Century, Pirate_

"This should not be this hard!" Emma exclaimed.

"Well, I am sorry that this is all new to me, love." Killian faked apologized.

"Where is Henry when you need him?" She said under her breathe.

This had to be done. If Killian was going to live in Storybrooke, he had to learn how to use modern technology and had been in the dark about all of this for too long, but in between Storybrooke being frozen and Gold having his heart, there was not a lot of time to teach him much. They had waited a while before teaching him anything more complex than a phone and even that was quite a journey. It was felt that he would need a phone and Henry had landed the job of teaching him how to use it. He had adapted quickly, but other forms of technology were over his head.

"Okay. One more time. This is a laptop." She pointed to the object that was on the counter of her parent's loft. They were sitting in the chairs facing the kitchen, with a phone and a laptop set out in front of them.

"And you use it to search things on the interweb?" Killian said.

"Internet, but close enough. Good." Emma sighed,relieved.

"But I can do that on my phone too , can I not?" Killian question. He had a point, but she was not going to give in. If he was going to live in the 21st century, he had to at least understand what all of this stuff was, even if he was never going to use it.

"Yes." Emma said. She thought she had been home clear. "You can. But you can also do it on the laptop."

"Then what is the point of having both?" He asked her. She tried to keep in perspective that he had was not from this world and these convinces were completely foreign to him.

"Well, there are certain things that you can do on one that you can not do on the other. Like, you can type papers on the laptop-" She paused and he gave her a confused look. "We are not even going to bother with that. There are these things you can get on your phone. Apps."

"Apps?" He repeated, trying to make sense of the funny sounding word.

"Yes." Emma said, trying to remain patient. "Apps. They can be like games and stuff."

"Is that like the snapcheck Henry is always talking about?"

"Snapchat." She corrected him. "And yes. That is an app that lets you text though pictures. The picture messages that you send delete within ten seconds."

"Oh, that could be useful." He smirked. Emma just smacked his shoulder. "And what of this Candy Crunch?"

"Candy Crush. It is a game. Very pointless. Very addicting."

"Well, love, I can think of better ways to spend my time."

"So, does it all make sense?" She asked, ignoring his last comment.

"Aye, love. I think I understand. I do have one question, though. What is a toaster? Your mother and Granny talk often of it. Is it like a phone?"

She could not help but laugh. He raised an eyebrow at her and she leaned in to kiss him. He removed his hand from the counter where he had been playing with the phone and moved it to bring her closer to him. He smiled, clearly over the fact that she had laughed at him. Emma pulled away, to which he gave a little huff. She just rolled her eyes and grabbed his hand to bring him into the kitchen.

"This is a toaster." She explained to him." You stick bread in it and it becomes toast. Hence the name-toaster."

He started inspecting the contraption, poking buttons to see what would happen. He was cute trying to figure out how to work the did not look confused, but interested. He turned it a bit so he could see the slots and started to poke his hook into it. Emma grabbed his arm quickly.

'Okay, so don't do that."

"Why not, love?" He asked, sounding like a kid who had gotten caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

"I'd rather you not get electrocuted."

"Electa-" He tried to repeat her word, but could not pronounce it."

"Don't do that again and you won't have to find out what it means." She said, pulling him away from the kitchen entirely.

"I take it from your tone that that is a bad thing." He deducted. She was having a hard time taking any of this seriously. Had her life really become trying to teach her pirate boyfriend what a toaster was in Snow White and Prince Charming's kitchen?

"It will kill you, pirate."

"I told you love, I am a survivor." He smirked.

"Well, why don't you tell the electricity that and see what it thinks?" Before he could give her another smart remark, she grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the couch. "Come on, I think we have earned some Netflix."

"Still don't really understand what that is, love." Killian confessed to her. He told her that every time she suggested that they watch something, which sadly had not been often. Free time was a rarity in Storybrooke and when it came about no one really knew what to do with it.

"You don't need to. Just stare at the T.V. and hold me on the couch, got it pirate?"

"Aye, aye Captain." He winked.

* * *

 _Up next: Modern College AU_

 **Thanks for reading!**


	4. Hello Part 1

**This was not based on a prompt, rather it was just an idea I had. I write based on what I know and see, and being in college has shown me many coffee dependant students trying to making it until Fall Break. I just finished a paper on Foster Care's physological effects on children and am still in that frame of mind. Hence, this one shot.**

 **I got caried away with it though, so I had to split it into two parts because it was too long.**

 **Anyway, if you have a request, leave it in the comments. Please review, favorite and follow! Enjoy**

 _Hello_

Coffee. Coffee made things better. Or at least more bearable. Emma was a few weeks into the semester, but was so ready for a break. She was used to the long hours of studying, spending weekends in doing homework instead of going out with her roommate, Ruby, who was quite the party girl. She sacrificed herself to her grades-she had to. She got one shot, and she was not going to blow it.

 _One more week_. She reminded herself. One more week until the extended weekend for fall break. One more weekend until she could go home to Storybrooke and see her adoptive mother, and her brother David and his wife, Mary Margaret. She missed them terribly while she was off at college in Boston, but she knew it was for the best.

Emma took another sip of her coffee as she refocused on her screen. Just four more paragraphs. Almost there. She had been working on this paper for a while, still not quite content with how it was turning out. It had to be perfect. She needed the good grade she rationalized.

She finally let out a huff and removed her laptop from her lap and put in on the table that she was sitting at. She groaned slightly and pushed her coffee away, resting her head in her hands. Her frustration must have caught the attention of the guy at the table next to her because he came over and sat down with her, clearly not having the idea to leave the annoyed college girl alone.

"Hello, alright?" His voice was filled with concern. She was not used to that from most people. It was strange.

"Yeah, fine." She said looking at him. He had dark hair and bright blue eyes. His face was decorated with a bit of scruff, but it suited him. He had an accent that she could not quite place. Ireland, maybe? Either way, it intrigued her. "Just trying to finish a paper for school."

"Where do you go?" He asked her. He did not just listen to her answer when she said she was fine and leave. He was genuinely interested in her.

"Boston University. I am a sophomore."

"Really?" He asked,almost shocked. "I have never seen you around before."

"Wait, you go there?" She questioned him.

He nodded. "Senior."

"That must be it. Most seniors don't socialize with the lower classmen." She pointed out, reaching for her coffee to take another drink of it.

"Well, that is quite a shame." He told her. She had no clue why, but his comment made her blush. She, Emma Swan, did not blush. She was sure it was biologically impossible for her to do anything remotely close to blushing, and yet this complete stranger with bright blue eyes had her blushing.

"So, lass. "He said, bringing her back to reality. "What class is the paper for, might I ask?"

"Um, it's a child development class. Its for my major." She explained.

"Which is?"

"Social work."

"Interesting. So, what is the paper on?"

"We are analyze how the foster system affects a child's psychiatric development."

"Heady." He commented. "How did you chose that major?"

"Why are you interested?" She said, trying not to sound mean, but instead maybe-flirty? What was this guy doing to her?

"You interest me, love. You are like a book that I want to read more of."

"A book." Emma laughed. "You are comparing me to a book."

"You see, love. You are something of an open book to me. But I can not figure out all. I am no mind reader."

"Really? An open book?" She challenged him. "Well, what do you see if you can read me so well?"

"A second chance." That was not the answer she was expecting.

"What do you mean by that?" She pushed the subject.

"Well, love, you were hurt when you were younger, that much is clear by the look you have in your eyes. The look of someone who has been abandoned. But you are healing, moving on. Making a life and a future for yourself. Am I right?"

"Yeah." She stated. "How would you know that?"

"Maybe we are not to different after all. Know, why did you chose the major?"

"Not until you give me your name." She somewhat demanded him.

"Killian." He told her. "Killian Jones." _Killian._ It was an interesting name, one she had never heard before. She liked it though and felt that it suited him well. Mysterious, with layers to be discovered.

"Emma Swan."

"Emma." He repeated. "I like it. Now-"

Emma was not sure why she was doing this-opening herself up to a complete stranger. She never did this, even with people she was close with. But he was easy to talk to, and he enjoyed listening, something else she was unused to. She liked that about him. "I grew up in the system. Spent sixteen years there until I was finally adopted. I want to make sure kids never experience the things I did."

"That is lovely, Swan. How did you chose this college?"

"My brother, David, came here a few years ago for criminal justice and loved it. Met his wife here and everything. I decided to follow in his footsteps.

"David, you say? How old is your brother?" He asked, suddenly very interested about her family.

"Twenty-three. He graduated last year."

"I do not remember a David Swan." Killian told her, sighing.

Emma shook her head. "Swan is my last name from a previous home. His name was David Nolan."

"No way!" Killian exclaimed. "He was in my suite! I knew the fellow well."

"Really? That is cool. Now we have a connection." Emma joked.

"As if we did not have one before." He smirked at her. She liked this. The playful banter felt like she was talking to an old friend. It was refreshing and new.

"So, what are you doing for fall break?" She said, changing the subject. Emma finally decided that no more work was getting done so she closed her laptop and put in back into her bag. She placed both hands on her cup of coffee, which was no almost empty.

"Staying on campus, most likely doing homework." He revealed.

"Too far to go home?" Emma assumed.

"No home to go to."

Emma felt bad for bring up what she assumed would be a sore subject. She had not expected him to be that much like her. "I am sorry, I didn-"

"It is alright, lass. It has been a while since I have had a family. Mother died when I was young, my father left when I was fourteen, and my brother passed two years ago. But time has healed the wounds."

"I am so sorry. So, you are just stuck here for breaks? What do you do for Christmas and long breaks like that?"

"Hope I have a buddy who will let me crash at their place." He joked.

"You could come home with me for Christmas if you'd like." He raised his eyebrow suggestively, somewhat to suggestively. She tried to redeem herself. "I mean, you said you knew David. I am sure he would love to see you again."

"I thank you for the offer, lass, but I could not impose." He said, ever the gentlemen.

"It would be nice. Come on."

"You do realize you just invited a stranger home for the holidays, love? Not exactly the brightest move."

"Then I guess we'll just have to get to know each other before Christmas." Emma said, feeling bold.

"I guess we shall."

* * *

 _Up next: Part 2 of Hello_

 ** _Thanks for Reading!_**


	5. Hello Part 2

**Here is part two of Hello! If you have a request or an idea for a one shot, leave it in the comments.**

 **Please review, favorite and follow!**

 _Hello_

Killian went home with Emma for Christmas. It had required some begging from Emma and a whole lot of pleading from David, but it had worked. He ended up fitting in very well with the dynamic of the small family. David and Killian were fast to reunite and tell stories of their college days. Mary-Margaret instantly liked him, telling Emma what a catch he was, to which Emma would only roll her eyes. Emma's mother, Ruth, spoiled him, reminding Killian what it was like to have a family once again.

The weeks of Christmas break went by too quickly, at least for Emma and Killian's liking. They remained very close during the second semester, spending all of their free time together. Killian would help, or distract her, while doing homework, and she would help him look for jobs for after he graduated. His graduation was an inevitable event that neither one of them wanted to talk about. They knew it was coming, but did not want to face the facts.

Killian, thankfully, worked up the guts to ask Emma out in April, only a few weeks before he was due to graduate. She had been reluctant, despite her mutual feelings, due to the fact he was leaving soon and they did not know what the future held. She remembered the conversation well.

" _Killian, this isn't a good idea."_

" _Why, love. You said you feel as I do. I see no reason that we should not try."_

" _Graduation. You are leaving. I am staying. Things will be too complicated."_

" _I agree that things will be hard, but we will make it work. We always do." He tried to reassure her._

" _You are gonna get a job and I will end up somewhere else. We don't know what the next few years are going to look like." Emma tried to reason with him._

" _I do not care what the future looks like as long as I have you by my side."_

" _Killian, this wo-"_

" _I got a job. Here in Boston. It is not the best, but I think I am going to take it. I want to take it."_

" _Why?" By this point she sounded, and looked, like an emotional fool._

 _He wrapped her up in his arms, pulling her close to him. They had never done this. Sure, they had hugged plenty of times, but not this. Her head was at his chest and there were only a few inches between them._

" _You, Emma." He revealed. "I want to be with you."_

" _I want to be with you too."_

And boy, was she happy with her decision. Things had been hard after Killian graduated, but they were worth it. He lived in an apartment a few miles away from campus, close enough that he could see Emma. They did normal couple things-went out for dinner after his shifts, spent the weekends together. When Christmas rolled around that year, there was no question where Killian was spending the holidays.

The rest of Emma's junior year flew by, along with her senior year. She started applying for jobs in Boston, and thankfully got one quickly. Killian was ecstatic for her, telling her over and over again how proud he was of her. Her graduation rolled around and Killian beamed with pride for her once again. Her mother came down to see her, along with David, Mary-Margaret and their newborn son, Leo. They went up to Storybrooke for the weekend, where they had a party in the local diner, Grannies. Killian kept telling her that he had a surprise for her, but she had to wait until after the party. Emma was awful with patience and surprises, so it was not easy for her, but she waited until the party was over. Ruth and Mary Margaret stayed to clean up while David took his son home to put him to bed. Killian used that time to sneak out with Emma and take her for a walk on the beach.

It was quite and peaceful, just the two of them with the water lapping on the shore. Killian never mentioned anything about the surprise on their walk, so Emma had to start nudging him as she was growing tired of waiting. Finally, he gave in and let her in on his little surprise. He proposed.

Emma had been shocked. In tears, she managed to accept his proposal. He wrapped her in his arms like he had done many a times and swung her around, whispering _I love you_ into her neck.

Ruth and Mary Margaret were thrilled for her. David threatened to kill Killian if he ever did anything to her. "We may be friends." David told him when they announced the news. "But you even think about hurting my sister, and you will end up in twenty-three different places." To seal the deal he gave him a friendly smack on the back. Emma laughed at her brother and reminded her finacee that her brother was just kidding. It would be unnecessary to David to hurt him. Killian would never think of hurting Emma. And if, by some chance, he did, Emma would take care of him herself.

They married the next year in June in Storybrooke right on the beach where he had proposed. It was a small ceremony, just family and friends, mainly from school or work. A few of Emma's friends from Storybrooke came, such as Belle or August. Killian's best friend from Boston, Robin came up for the weekend with his wife Regina and their son Roland in tow. The day had been simple, but perfect.

They went to Costa Rica for their honeymoon and spent a blissful week and a half there before returning the the realities of life. She started her job as a social worker and he returned back to work. Emma got closer with Regina as Killian and Robin spent more time together. The couple would even offer to take care of young Roland so his parents could go out.

It was not long before Emma and Killian started throwing around the idea of having a child of their own. They were both open to it, but decided that whatever happened happened. As Killian put it, "I am already the happiest man in the world just by being with you."

But when they had been married for two years, still as in love as ever, and they found out Emma was pregnant, Killian did not complain. In fact, he did the opposite. He was over the moon. He was insistent they tell her family as soon as they could. A skype call did not do justice to telling them in person, but it was all they could do. Killian smiled ear to ear as they announced their happy news.

Eight months later when Emma delivered their baby girl, Emma swore Killian would burst from happiness. Charlotte Darcy Jones quickly had her father wrapped around her little finger. Ruth was ecstatic to be a grandmother again and Mary-Margaret and David embraced getting to have a niece. Leo was the only one not exactly thrilled. He had been hoping for a "boy baby" to offset the sister, Hadley Rose, his parents had given him a few months prior.

Emma loved her little family. Holding her daughter in that hospital room with her husband lovingly looking over both of them, she couldn't help but think of that fateful day in a coffee shop where a handsome stranger said hello.

* * *

 _Up next: Prompt: Killian learning the music of today and maybe some dance_

 ** _Thanks for Reading! Tell me what you think!_**


	6. Dance With Me, Darling

**Sorry for the lack on an upload yesterday. The last day before break was a bit hectic. Anyways, here is another new one shot based on a request. If you have a request, please leave it in the comments. Please review, follow and favorite. It really does make all the difference.**

 **Request from guest**

 **Prompt: Killian learning the music of today and maybe some dance ( whip, nae nae)**

 _Dance With Me, Darling_

Emma loved moments like these with her son. She was making lunch (sandwiches, because her cooking skills were lacking) while he blasted his ipod. It was a Saturday and her weekend to take Henry. He had been spending more and more time over at Emma and Killian's place due to the toddler that was at Robin and Regina's. Henry was not quite sure what was worse-a crying toddler or newlyweds.

Killian was due home any minute, returning from his job at the docks for his lunch break. He normally did not work on weekends, but Smee had called him in and asked for help with something. He had been reluctant to go, wanting to stay home with his wife and step-son for the day, but duty called.

Emma heard the front door open and close, muffled by the loud playing of "Shut up and Dance." which Henry was bobbing his head to. Killian walked into the kitchen and living area where his wife and son were to greet them. Henry was to distracted with his music to say hi, so Killian turned his attention to his wife.

"Hello, love." He said, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Hey. How was work?" She said, returning her attention to what she had been doing.

"Good. I'd much rather be here with you two though." He told her.

"Well, we would rather you be here too."

"What is Henry doing? And what is that infernals sound?" Killian questioned, going to the other side of the counter and leaning against it so he was face to face with Emma.

"He's just listening to music. It's what people in this time period do." Emma informed him.

"This is not music." Killian mumbled.

"It is not music from the Enchanted Forest. This is what is popular now." Emma informed his, pushing the food aside so she could talk with him.

"Shut up and dance with me?" Killian questioned. "This is not real music."

Emma grabbed his arm and pulled him into the kitchen with her. Killian gave her a strange look, but did not protest. She started dancing, most likely looking like a fool, but the only people who could see were her husband and her son, if he was actually paying attention. Killian laughed as she grabbed his hands and tried to get him to move with her.

"What's wrong, old man? Can't dance?" Emma teased him.

"Who are you calling old man?" With that, Killian grabbed Emma's waist and hoisted her over his shoulder. Emma could not hold in the little shriek of surprise when he did so, and despite her whining and her swatting at his back and shoulder, he would not put her down. Instead, he danced a bit with her over his shoulder.

He finally set her down when the song ended. "Who's the old man, now?"

"Certainly not you, Captain." She said, leaning in to give him a quick kiss.

The song changed and Henry yelled out to them. "Mom, come here. We should teach Killian."

Killian raised an eyebrow at the strange request. "Teach me what, love?" He asked as she took his hand and brought him to the living room where Henry was.

"How to Nae Nae."

"How to what?" He started to ask, but Henry just shook his head.

"It is easier if we show you. It might be a bit hard to explain to an old pirate like you." Henry pointed out.

"What are you two just ganging up on me today?"

"Okay." Henry said, ignoring what he said and going back to what he was interested in. "This is how you whip." Henry showed the motion, clenching his fist and throwing his arm to the other side as he did a similar motion with his foot. "This is how you Nae-Nae." Henry stepped back, waving his hand in the air.

"What is the purpose of this?" Killian asked.

"It is for fun." Henry told him. "Now you try."

Killian awkwardly tried to copy Henry's motions. Henry stood next to him slowly showing him again how to do it and going through the steps with him. Emma stood to the side watching her two guys as they danced. As the song progressed, Henry showed Killian the other steps, which he still could not execute.

"No, Killian, you have to stick your arms out while you superman." Henry corrected him.

Killian tried again, still not doing it to Henry's standard. "Mom," Henry turned around. "Come show him, he likes you more."

Emma just laughed as she stepped out and stood besides Killian, showing him the proper way to superman. After a few tries, he finally got it. "Good job." Emma said. "Now, just whip and nae nae again one more time during the chorus."

Killian did as she said, all three of them dancing like idiots in the living room while the music played. Emma could hear Henry's laughter, probably from getting his step-father to do the dance. As the song ended, Henry turned to high five Killian. It had taken a while to teach Killian high fiving and the purpose behind it, but he finally adapted,(and stopped using his left hand). Killian high fived his son and Henry excused himself for a few moments.

Killian turned back to his wife, stepping closer to her. "Quite a lad you've got there."

"You know you love it."

"Aye, I do. Love his mother too." Killian said, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her closer to him. "Dancing is quite strange in this world."

"Maybe dancing in just strange in your world." Emma retorted, leaning back a bit so she could see her husband.

"Don't think so lass." He took her hand and started swaying with her in his arms. "I can't do this to your songs."

"You are right now." Emma reminded him. In the background, "Geronimo" was playing.

"I am improvising, Swan. Isn't this better that Naeing?" He said, pulling her even closer to him. She rested her head against his shoulder."

"It is the best. I could dance like this all day."

* * *

 _Up next: Modern Fake dating AU featuring some horseback riding_


	7. Get Your Heart Racing Part 1

**This is not based on a prompt, but rather an idea I just could not get out of my head. Once again, I made it too long and it needs to be split into two parts (possibly three...oops). Enjoy!**

 _Get Your Heart Racing_

The past three months had seemed like three decades. It was the longest that Emma and Killian had been separated in their time of knowing each other, the past five years. They met in the eighth grade after Killian moved their from England. Emma had recently been adopted by her foster mother Ruth, making them both the new kids in school. It did not take long for an instant friendship to form and the two had been inseparable ever since.

After graduation, the two went their separate ways. Killian attended a college in Portland and Emma went to Boston to continue her studies. They had both agreed that they would not base their college choice on where the other one was going, resulting in them ending up at different schools. Killian would come visit Emma on long weekends that she could not make it home, like this one, Fall Break.

Killian insisted on planning what they would do for the weekend, despite not knowing the area well. He wanted to surprise Emma and do something nice for her. Emma trusted him, but was still a bit hesitant for what he would end up choosing.

Emma and Killian had arranged for him to stay in her friend, Will's, dorm while he was gone for spring break. Will was a bit careless and did not care who entered his room, as long as no one touched his things. He did not hold himself to that same standard though, as during his first week he pickpocketed his roommate, Robin. That had been the first and last time he had tried though because Robin let him know that he could shoot a bow and arrow and his aim was true. Will nervously laughed and kept to himself after that point.

Killian was currently settling himself into where he was staying as Emma paced around her room, anxious. Thankfully, her roommate, Regina, was not there because the brunette would have lost it. It had taken Emma and Regina a while before they actually became friends. Regina had a bitter edge to her and took nothing from no one. Emma's stubborn personality did not mix well with Regina's. They two girls finally found a way to coexist without one of them killing the other. Emma was convinced Regina had turned over a new leaf because she had caught the eye of Robin, but Regina just scoffed.

A knock at her room's door pulled Emma out of her thoughts quite quickly. Emma rushed to the door, casually, to let Killian in. He was in his typical leather jacket and black jeans, adorable smile painted on his face. He grabbed her and pulled her into a hug before she knew what was going on, but Emma did not protest. "I missed you, Swan." He murmured.

"You saw me twenty minutes ago when I showed you where you were staying." Emma joked, pulling out of him embrace.

"You know what I mean, love." He said, calling her his other pet name. Emma loved it when he called her _Swan_ or _Love_ , even though she would never tell him that.

"So," She said, reverting her attention to him. "What do you have planned for today?"

"Glad you asked, Swan." He smirked and that anxious feeling returned. He had something up his sleeve, which was never good. He reached into his back pocket and produced a pamphlet, which he handed to Emma. "It will be like going down memory lane." He hinted.

She took the paper from him and inspected it. "Horseback riding?" Emma questioned. "How is that a trip down memory lane?"

"End of tenth. Shelly Labow invited a group of us out to her ranch to celebrate the end of the year." Killian explained to her.

"She did that because she had a massive crush on Victor." Emma reminded him.

"Aye, and dear ol' Ruby almost went all wolf on poor Shelly." Emma laughed at the memory of her best friend practically attacking the poor girl when she tried to make a move on Victor. " But Shelly let us ride her horses, remember?"

"I remember. We raced with David and he was a sore loser."

"Still is. So, I thought it would be nice to do again-without Dave this time. I got a nice price too ." He said, proud of himself.

Emma looked at the pamphlet again to see how much be paid. She read some of the info and got confused. "Uh, Killian. This says couples horseback riding?"

Killian stepped forward and grabbed the paper out of her hand. "No it does-" He started to say until he read the part where she was pointing. Sure enough he had signed them up for a couples day, hence the reason he had gotten such a good deal. They only needed one horse, because they were supposed to be a couple.

"Alright, no big dea. We just pretend." Killian said quickly.

"Pretend what?" Emma asked him, not wanting to assume anything.

"Pretend we are dating. It won't be hard. We are already best friends." He sounded as if this was an easy plan that people executed all of the time in real life instead of just the movies.

"You want to pretend that we are dating?" Emma scoffed. Pretend she is dating her best friend of five years who she secretly has feeling for. No biggie, right?

"I want to spend the day with you, Swan. It will only be for a few when we come back we can get Chinese food and watch Netflix like you always loved. Tomorrow you can show me around the city."

"You really did have this weekend all planned out?"

"Aye. If you are uncomfor-"

"It's fine." Emma cut him off. "Like you said, we are best friends. Shouldn't be that hard, right?"

"Right." Killian agreed. "So, what's our story?" He asked her, making his way to the couch to sit. Emma shot him a confused look, following him and sitting on the opposite side of the couch. "Swan, it is best if we know how we started dating before we get there. Wouldn't want to appear foolish, now would we?"

"Okay." Emma said slowly. "Try and keep it as close to our past as possible. The less changes the less room for slipups. You asked me out in eleventh? We got to different school and you visit me on long weekends? How does that sound?"

"I can work with it." He commented. "We have to appear as a couple too,love."

"And how do we do that?"

"Couples do not have a problem being within five feet of each other." He teased her.

"I hugged you earlier, didn't I?"Emma remarked back to him.

"Aye, lass, you did. But a hug if what friends do. Couples hold each other and hold hands and-"

"If you say kiss, I will hit you."

"I was going to say are happy with each other. Unless you were suggesting something." He raised his eyebrows in that suggestive way that he did. It always got to her when he did that.

"Shut up. No kissing, but I guess we can try to do the others." She sighed. With that, he shifted over to where she was sitting on the couch, leaving very little distance between them. He put his arm around her and pulled her closer to his side.

"What are you doing?" Emma questioned.

"Practicing." He said, nonchalantly. "We have to look like we are comfortable with each other." He put out his hand, gesturing for her to take it. She looked at him hesitantly before slowly taking his hand in hers. Their hands fell between them and she relaxed into his embrace, resting her head on his shoulder. Emma felt at peace her, sitting with him in his arms. She had to remind herself this was fake though. Nothing about this was real. He did not feel the same way as she did.

"See, Swan?" He almost whispered. "Not so bad." She just nodded her head, unsure of what to say.

"We best be going." He continued. "Wouldn't want to be late." She slipped away from him and he quickly stood up, extending his hand to her. Emma took it without a thought, standing up next to him. He slung his arm around her and pulled her close again.

"Let's go ride some horses, girlfriend."

* * *

 _Up next" Part two of Get Your Heart Racing_

 ** _Let me know what you thought! (P.S. reviews make me update quicker.)_**

 ** _Thanks for reading!_**


	8. Get Your Heart Racing Part 2

**Here we go! I had to split it into three parts just to keep the lengths consistent. Hope ya'll don't mind!**

 _Get Your Heart Racing_

"Act natural, love." Killian whispered into her ear.

"I am." Emma fought back in a sing-song voice, fake smile plastered on her face. He had his arm wrapped around her as they walked into the ranch where they would get their horseback riding lesson. Their couples horseback riding lesson.

"Hi. I'm your instructor, Ingrid." A forty-something woman walked up to them. "You must be the happy couple." She smiled.

"Aye." Killian said, pulling Emma closer, to which she just gave Ingrid a smile.

"How cute." She commented. "Let's go and get you two set up, shall we?" She led them to the stables where another instructor was helping a couple with their horse. "This is Sydney. He is the instructor of the other couple today. You guys will all be riding together."

A girl, probably around Emma's age, came around from the other side of the horse to introduce herself. "Aurora. Over there is my boyfriend Philip."

"Emma. This is Killian."

"Nice to meet you both." She said sweetly, before returning back to her boyfriend to get on their horse.

"Relax, Swan." Killian whispered to her once again. She nodded and he grabbed her hand and led her to where Ingrid was waiting for them. She explained the process of getting on the horse and what they would be doing for the day. Just a nice gallop in the meadow. Sounded easy enough. Indrid motioned for the two of them to mount their horse, Buttercup. Killian got on first and Emma sat behind him.

"Emma, dear, you need to hold on to Killian so you won't fall off." Ingrid explained, laughing at the silly mistake.

"Oh, right." Emma muttered. She wrapped her arms around Killian lightly, not wanting to squeeze him. He turned around and gave her a reassuring look that let her know it was alight. She readjusted herself, arms wrapped firmly around his waist, her chin resting gently at his shoulder.

"Good." Ingrid told them as she took the reins and led them out to the meadow where Philip, Aurora and Sydney were waiting. They started out slow, the instructors taking the reins and walking with the horses following at a steady pace. It was calming, just a slow stroll.

"You alright, Swan?" Killian quietly asked her.

"Yeah." She answered. "This is nice. Thank you." He smiled and turned slightly so he could kiss the side of her head. She blushed, not having expected that. Philip must have caught a glimpse of them because when Killian turned back around to face the front, he started talking to them.

"So, how long you two been together?" He asked them from the other horse.

"About two years." Killian answered. Emma decided she would let him do more of the talking today. He was good with words.

"How nice." Aurora said in her sweet voice. "We have only been together for six months. Were you two highschool sweethearts?"

 _Highschool sweethearts._ Emma mentally laughed at the term. Everyone in high school had told them like they acted a couple, but they always shrugged off the comment. They were friends. Best friends, but that was it. Nothing more, nothing less.

"Aye, we were. Since the eleventh grade. I was bloody slow about asking her out. Took me three years." Killian told the other two, giving Emma an endearing look as he did so.

"That's so sweet. Do you two go to the same college now?" Aurora asked.

"No." Emma finally piped in. "I am down here at Boston University and he is up at school in Portland. We spend long weekends together though."

"There not enough though." Killian added. "The distance is torture."

"I bet." Philip said. "Emma, I haven't seen you around campus. We are both sophomores at Boston."

"Really? I am a freshman."

"We will have to see each other during the semester!" Aurora told them, resting her head on Philip's shoulder.

"Yeah." Emma told them genuinely. "That would be great."

There was a silence for a few moments. Aurora whispered something into Philip's ear and the couple was laughing. They were happy. Emma hoped that she could be like that with someone one day. Completely ridiculous and completely in love.

The rest of the afternoon went on without a hitch. They continued to ride in the meadow, talking about school and life and everything in between. Philip was a business major while Aurora was studying education. Killian told them what Portland was like, both the city and his school where he was studying marine biology. Emma told them about her major of sociology with the hopes of being a social worker. She did not tell them her reasons for choosing the major, though. When she mentioned that she wanted to help children find homes she felt Killian place one of his hands on hers where they were still wrapped around his waist.

When they finished riding, they returned to the stables, thanked Ingrid and Sydney for their services and left the ranch. The couples walked out together, Aurora insistent on keeping in contact with the other two. "We have to see each other again, especially since we know that we are at the same school." Emma and Killian agreed, promising to try and have dinner as a group the next time Killian came to town.

The couples said their goodbyes and Emma and Killian got into her yellow bug and drove off. There was an awkward silence for most of the ride. They would comment that the day was enjoyable or that the other couple was very nice or say something about how great the facility was, but there was no real conversation. Emma was almost disappointed as she drove, wishing they could act like a couple for a little bit longer. She liked how it felt, liked how he held her, how he looked at her. Even if it was fake, Emma like it. A lot.

But he did not like it. That was the problem. And he was too good a friend to mess things up with. Emma could not stand to lose him because she had said something that he misconstrued as being in the heat of the moment with him not returning those feelings. So, in result, she needed to keep her feeling quiet. She would get over him eventually. It had been hard the past few months being away from him. She had hoped it would make things easier, make it easier to forget him, but it did the opposite. She missed him more than words could express and seeing him again made her realize that those feelings had never left and probably had only gotten stronger with their time apart.

Emma thought about making some joke and getting them to talk like they normally did. To just forget about what had happened today and move on. But something in her gut told her things would be different now. She did not like that feeling.

* * *

 _Up next: Part 3 of Get your Heart Racing_

 ** _Please review! It makes me so very happy. Hope you enjoyed!_**


	9. Get Your Heart Racing Part 3

**Sorry it took a while to get this last part up! Those of you following Generation Hope, an update will be up eventually, but I am working out a few kinks. Also, I am thinking of starting a High school Au. Would anyone be interested in reading?**

 **Please comment, favorite and review. Thank you!**

 _Get Your Heart Racing_

Things were a bit awkward for the rest of the night. And by a bit awkward, Emma meant absolutely awfully awkward. They decided to stay in her dorm room for a lazy evening like they were used to having back in high school, just watching some movies on Netflix and eating that they Chinese food they had picked up on their way home from horseback riding.

Neither one of them said anything about their day. In fact, neither one of them said much at all. Emma hated this silence. They always talked, even if it was about something stupid. It had never been like this between them and she hoped it would end with the night. Tomorrow they would be themselves again and forget that any of this had happened. They could move on and be themselves again. That was all Emma wanted.

Emma got herself settled on her bed, turning on her laptop and logging into Netflix. Killian sat on the floor, staring at his food.

"You don't have to sit down there you know." Emma told him, breaking their silence. He turned to her and gave her a half smile before returning his attention to his food.

"Okay, what's wrong?" Emma finally asked, moving the laptop away from her. "You've been acting weird since we left the ranch. Did I do something?If I did, I'm so-"

"It wasn't you, love. It's me.I did something." He told her softly.

"Did what?" She asked.

"I have something to confess." He signed. He stood up and started pacing around, trying to develop his words. "I-I liked it. I liked acting like a couple, and I know I shouldn't because we are best friends and friends do not act like that and with us being separated for so many months out of the year this is hard for us and new and-"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down." Emma said, standing now. "You liked it? But weren't we just pretending?" She asked, trying not to sound too hopeful. He was confused, he had to be. There was no way he liked her like that.

"Aye, I know that. And I was pretending at first-but at some point I stopped."

"Why did you stop?" Emma said, moving closer to him.

"I liked it. Liked being with you. I liked how it felt to have you in my arms."

"I liked how it felt to be in your arms." Emma whispered.

That caught his attention. "You did?" He asked her, not believing what he had heard.

"Yeah. I liked it to Killian. I guess I stopped pretending at some point too." She revealed.

They stood still for a moment, so close to each other, but it felt like there was a brick wall between them. Emma looked up at those bright blue eyes that she knew so well. The possibility that he might actually feel the same way sunk in and she smiled at him. He gave her that goofy lopsided smile that made her fall for him in the first place. She did not want to lose him as her friend, her very best friend, but he wanted the same as she did. He, hopefully, felt the same as she did.

"I suppose I have another confession" He whispered, taking another step closer to her. They were inches apart now.

"And what's that?" She played dumb, both to keep him on his toes and so she would not get her hopes up.

"I like you, Emma. Always have. Probably always will."

"Really?" She asked him. Despite what he kept telling her, her mind told her there was no way this could be happening. It was a joke. Some sick cruel joke that he was playing on her. But she knew him. He would never do that to her. If he said something, even something like this, he meant it.

"Aye, really. I have wanted to tell you for a long time, but I feared risking our friendship. I guess I just could not hold it in anymore." He smiled slightly, looking to her for a response. She lifted herself up a bit and kissed his cheek, then whispered in his ear. "I like you too."

She leaned back to see his response. He said nothing, but grabbed her in his arms and spun her around. Emma threw her head back and laughed. He set her down and cupped her cheek, returning to a serious tone. "Are you sure, love?" She nodded, grinning ear to ear.

"So, we are really dating now? No need to pretend next time?"

"Well, I don't know. Isn't there something you should ask me first?" She played with him.

"Aye, of course. Emma Swan, would you do me the honor of being my girlfriend?"

"Yes." She whispered, bringing her hand up to hold the one he had on her cheek.

That goofy lopsided smile returned as he pulled her in and embraced her. "I could get used to this." Emma laughed.

"You better, love." He said, pulling back a bit. "I have no intentions of going anywhere. I like this feeling way too much."

* * *

 _Up next: Something to do with that Ring Killian gave Emma!_

 _ **Reviews make me update faster!**_

 _ **Love you all! Thanks for reading!**_


	10. This I Promise You

**Sorry it has taken so long to get this one shot up! I am still accepting prompts and requests though, leave them in the comments!**

 **And...I have officially reached 50,000 words on my account! Thank you all for reading my stories!**

 **Also, if you have not already done so, please check out my new multi-chapter fic, In the Midst. It is a modern AU starting when Emma is in the foster system and meets Killian as a teenager and how their lives are intertwined from that point on. It would make me so happy if you read it and told me what you thought!**

 _This I Promise You_

It was over. Everything was over. Another threat would come soon and the crew would have to figure out how to defeat it, but for right now, there was nothing. The dark one was gone, Killian was alive, and all was well with the world.

The past twenty-four hours had been a blur. Their rescue mission to save Killian from the underworld had come to a close and they had made their way back to Storybrooke. Emma and Killian were both exhausted after saving her from the darkness and him from the underworld and had little opportunity to talk. It was late when they arrived back in Storybrooke and Emma needed to make sure Henry got home safely while Regina checked on Zelena. When Emma returned to Killian's ship, he was fast asleep. He still wore his leather jacket and the lights were still on. He intended to wait up for Emma to, finally, talk to her again and just be with her, but sleep overtook him. Emma was slightly disappointed, but was thankful that he was able to get some rest.

Emma made her way back to the loft for the night at her parents insistence, crashing into bed and falling asleep within minutes of walking in the door. She did not bother setting an alarm, figuring that the growling of her stomach would wake her up.

True to her assumption, the next morning her hunger was the only thing that forced her out of bed. The loft was quiet and all she wanted to do was sleep more. She looked over to her bedside table to see a note which her mother had left for her.

 _Your father, your brother, Henry and I went to Granny's for breakfast. They were getting whinney. Love you!-Mom_

Emma smiled and slipped out of bed to get dressed to join her family. Regina and Robin would probably be there too,along with Roland, who loved to see Neal and Henry whenever he could. The little boy loved his "brothers" as he now referred to them.

After putting on grey jeans, a simple white shirt, her red jacket, he simply did her hair, making herself presentable enough to be out in public, but not really caring what she looked like. Before she left, she put Killian's ring that he had given her around her neck. She had worn it every day since he gave it to her and cherished it even more during his time in the Underworld. More than anything, she wanted to be with him again during that time, letting him know he was so loved and how much he meant to her.

Emma went downstairs, expecting to be greeted by the empty loft. Instead, sitting at the table which had breakfest placed on it, was Killian. His eyes were tired, but happy as a smirk played at his lips. He stood when he saw Emma, making his way towards her.

"Good morning, my love." He said, giving her a quick kiss and he pulled her into his embrace.

"What are you doing here? Not that I'm complaining?"

"Thought we could have breakfast together. And since the entire town decided on celebrating at Granny's, this seemed like the only way we could get alone."

"So, you cooked?" Emma questioned, leaning over a bit out of his embrace to see the food on the table.

"No. I would have, but I was quite worn out. And I know how much we have both missed Granny's food, so I got some to go." He explained. Emma nodded and he took her hand to lead her to the table. He pulled her chair out for her, always the gentleman he claimed to be, then sat down where he had been earlier, but shifted his chair over a bit to be closer to her.

"I missed this." Emma commented before she dove into her pancakes. The familiar taste was comforting after the time they had spent trying to save Killian from the Underworld. Even before that when she was in Storybrooke as the Dark One she did not go to Granny's often since she was public enemy number one.

"Aye, love, so did I. I missed you more though.I do not mind having all the villains and the fighting as long as you are there next to me."

"No more going to the Underworld then." Emma teased.

"No promised, lass. If it means saving you, I will go anywhere." He tells her with such sincerity. Normally Emma would argue that she did not need anyone to save her, that she could do it on her own, but she was learning that it was not so bad to depend on someone else. It did not make her weak or unable to save herself, it just meant that she found someone who loved her so much that they were willing to put her first and do whatever it took to keep her safe and happy.

"I know. Thank you. Just try not to get yourself almost killed again, okay?"

"Remember love, I am a survivor?"

"Speaking of," Emma said, pushing away her plate so she could move out of her chair. "This is yours." She took the necklace with the ring off her neck and started to give it to him, but he shook his head.

"But you said it kept you alive?" Emma asked, confused.

"I don't really believe that, love. And if that is true, I would much rather you were it." He confessed.

"It's yours though. And I don't need the reminder about the pirate anymore." Emma teased him,moving to the edge of her seat, still holding the jewelry out to him.

"Well, maybe it can serve a new purpose." He said, leaning back. Emma looked at him, confused, ready to protest. "Relax, Swan. I am not proposing now either. We have a while to go before we are ready for that. But that is something I want."

"Really?" She asked him. They had not seriously talked about the future, their future, yet. In Camelot, their common goal was getting back so they could have a chance at a real future. They joked about the white picket fence and everything that came with that, but had not had a real conversation about what they both wanted.

"Aye." He simply answered. "It is. I love you Emma, more than anything. I want to spend the rest of my days by your side."

She grinned ear to ear. "I love you too." She whispered. "So, know what does the ring mean?"

"A promise ring."

"A promise for what?"

"That we love each other and want to be together. A promise that we shall have a future together, no matter what that may look like. A promise that I will never leave you, my love. That I will always be here for you, to protect you and to love you."

Emma could not stop the few tears that slipped from the corner of her eye. "I like that. Thank you."

Killian slipped the necklace back around her neck and gave her a kiss to the cheek, which then lingered until he kissed her. He pulled back smiling. "No, thank you, darling."

"That was quite the speech you just delivered. Can't wait to see what you are like with wedding vows." Emma teased.

"I have to get through the proposal first, don't I, love?" He reminded her.

"Don't worry too much about that. I think you will probably get a yes."

* * *

 _Thanks for reading! Leave a request in the comments! Do not forget to check out **In the Midst.**_


	11. The Pirate and His Phone

**New one shot about Killian and the picture on his phone! Just some fluff to get us all through. I am still taking requests so leave those in the comments! Let me know what fluff you need!**

 _The Pirate and His Phone_

Killian is first introduced to the talking phone by Emma and Henry. They start out simple. Just calling and texting on a phone that looked different than Emma and Henry's. It had buttons on the front versus theirs which were just a screen. "One step at a time pirate."

A few weeks later he is "upgraded" as they put it. He gets a talking phone like theirs, on the condition that he calls it just a phone. He mumbles an acceptance as Emma hands over the phone and shows him how to use it. She explains texting, emails, apps and the camera function. Killian glances over to her phone and sees that when she turns it on there is a picture of her and Henry on there.

"Why doesn't mine come with a picture like that?" Killian questioned.

"It's the wallpaper. You have to take a picture and then set it as one. People put whatever they want as their lockscreens, but I normally do something with people. For now, you can use one of the ones that comes with the phone."

Killian's lockscreen starts out as a black design that Emma tells him come with every phone. He can change it when he starts using the phone to take pictures.

Killian first changes his lockscreen a few weeks after he gets the phone. He is out on the Jolly Roger with Henry and the view is amazing. He remembers Emma telling him that people use the camera to take pictures of things they want to remember. The sight of the sea of one he will never tire of, so he snaps a picture and places it on his phone.

The ocean stays on his phone for a while. There is not much time to be changing pictures with the Snow Queen on the rampage. He still takes pictures with his new phone though. Pictures of dinners at Grannies, of the times he takes Henry sailing, and even something the lad calls a selfie. He grows fond of these selfies since he gets to be in the picture too.

Killian first uses a selfie as his wallpaper next. It is him and Henry right before they set sail on the Jolly Roger. It had become a tradition for Killian to pick Henry up from school on Fridays and take him sailing for a few hours before they joined his mothers and the rest of his family for dinner at Granny's. Killian cherished these moments with the boy and was happy to document them.

The defeat of the Snow Queen and the banishment of Rumpelstiltskin means a period of peace. Killian gets normal moments with Emma. In her words, they are finally doing normal couple things. She finally introduces him to the wonders of Netflix and he starts taking her out sailing more. On their first time sailing, just the two of them, Killian is struck by just how amazing Emma is. She is so loving of her family, so strong, so brave, and yet, she still chose to be with him. Emma leans over the edge of the boat a bit to take in the view and all Killian can think is how beautiful she is with the wind in her hair and the sunlight shining on her. Naturally he snaps a picture and sets it as his lockscreen.

Emma blushes a few days later when she turns on his phone to check the time. "You don't have to do that, you know." Emma informed him. He shook his head, telling her that it was his new favorite picture. Emma rolled her eyes and pulled out her phone. She took a picture of the two of them and joked to him that she was reciprocating the favor.

Next time he looked at her phone the picture of her and Henry was gone. In its place was the picture of the two of them.

The terror of finding the Queens of Darkness left little time for quiet moments, especially picture worthy ones. Killian still enjoyed his simple nights with Emma, casual lunches and random talks, but both of their phones staying in their pockets. They were too happy being with each other to think about anything else.

When Emma became the Dark One and cursed them all, Killian could not even think about changing his phone picture. Every time he got a text or even checked the time he was reminded of what she was-what she could be again. There were many nights where he lay in bed awake, scrolling through his pictures to remember better times with her. He looked at the pictures of when he took her sailing, the pictures of the two of them and her family at dinner, pictures of her with her brother or son. His favorite was a picture of the two of them and Henry by the water. Killian and Emma stood arm in arm with Henry in front of them. They looked like a true family.

Killian changed that picture to his lock screen and when Henry saw it, he commented that he was happy that Killian was in his family. The boy pushed him to take that next step with his mother, both of them oblivious that they had had the same conversation in Camelot when discussing Operation Light Swan. Whenever Killian looked at the picture, he was reminded of the family he had and the family he would always fight for.

The next few weeks were a blur, fighting, being the dark one, the underworld. Events blended together and exhaustion overtook everyone, including Hook. He had no clue where his phone was for those weeks, but his thoughts were always occupied by something else. Revenge, survival or Emma. Mostly Emma.

Killian proposed when all was safe again. The darkness was out of both of them, he survived the underworld, and all was well. She said yes, much to his delight. Snow took pictures of the whole thing and Killian immediately took one of those pictures for himself. His favorite picture from that day was one directly after he proposed. Tears were still in Emma's eyes as she peered up at him. He kissed her forehead and held her tightly in her arms. That picture stayed on his phone until they recreated it after their wedding.

During their honeymoon, Killian made his beautiful wife his phone lock screen, which made her roll her eyes just like the first time. He couldn't help but laugh, but there was no way he was changing it. She looked like an angel that day, all dressed in white with her long hair flowing over her shoulders. He found himself checking his phone more and more now.

Killian left that photo for a while, until there was one worthy of replacing it. That picture came when Emma gave birth to their little daughter, Evie. His girls were too beautiful not to look at all the time, even when he was at work, so of course he had to change the picture to the two of them.

Killian updated his phone again three years later after his son, Liam, dropped it. When Killian got a new one, he made what would be an embarrassing picture to a teenage Liam his wallpaper. Lucky that the one year old boy did not understand. He eventually decided to just change it to a picture of both Henry and Liam. His little toddler seemed to protest that less.

One day when Killian was at work, Emma sent him a picture that quickly became his all time favorite, and dare he say, almost provoked a few tears. His four year old daughter, Evie, and his two year old son, Liam, were each sitting on Henry's knees. Killian quickly made the picture his lock screen and vowed to never change it again.

Until his daughter Amber was born.

Thankfully, his next child, Amber, had no issue with breaking his phone. She loved the camera more than her older siblings, so more often than not, there was a picture of the little girl on her father's phone.

Snow insisted on family pictures around Amber's first birthday. As much as Killian complained, he could not upset the Lady Snow, so he did it. The pictures turned out wonderfully. Almost everyone in the family used the pictures on their phones. David used a picture of him, his wife, and their three kids, Emma, Neal and Ruthie. Snow used one of Emma holding Neal and Ruthie. Emma chose a picture of her four kids with her and Killian behind them.

Killian decided to use one with the entire family. He smiled, thanking the stars above that he was lucky enough to have a real family of his own, people who loved him and cared for him.

He stated it was his new favorite picture, but everyone knew that that would change soon.

* * *

 _Thanks for reading! Please go check out my Multi chapter fic, In the Midst!_


	12. This is Home

**Based on something I saw on instagram (which i presume came from tumblr) "He [Killian] and Emma, and sometimes Henry, don't need that much space. He's accustomed to the tight quarters of the Jolly Roger; she's used to apartment living. Yet he choose something so grand for them. You don't choose a home that big unless you hope to fill it up someday. Hook's dream for the future with Emma included children."**

 **And on this (written by hellowherearemypeople) Titled The Engagement House: "Remember back in the S3 finale-when Hook asked Emma what she was looking for and she said 'Home'. She's never had a permanent residence. As a child, she bounced around between foster homes, as a teen she spent time on the streets, then in the yellow bug. Even in her adult life, she moved around-changing apartments, changing cities. So when Emma Swan starts talking about their future, about a picket fence life, as something unattainable what does Killian Jones do? He doesn't make a promise to her with a ring. He searches for a HOUSE. His promise for their future isn't a piece of jewelry- it's the one thing she's always wanted but never had...His promise is a HOME.**

 _This is Home_

Emma relaxed. In her kitchen. Of her house. The fact that this novelty felt strange to her told her that her life had taken some major turns since she turned twenty-eight. She wouldn't change any of it.

Well, maybe the constantly being attacked by a villian part. Or the part where she becomes the dark one, but details details.

The past few weeks had been relatively peaceful. The only ruckus in town was between Zelena and Regina and then Grumpy being Grumpy. Life in Storybrooke had been quiet and Emma would be lying if she said she did not enjoy it. She was safe. Killian and Henry and her paretns were safe. She and Killian were together. What more could she ask for?

Emma heard the front door open and close and smiled to herself, knowing who it was. Killian walked into the kitchen and greeted her with a kiss to the top of her head. He had been walking Henry over to Regina's house. The teenage boy insisted he was fine walking by himself, but Killian still would walk with him some days. Emma knew Killian secretly just wanted some time alone with the boy to get closer with him

Killian poured himself a cup of coffee from the pot Emma had made. Emma laughed to herself at the domesticity of it all. He joined her at the table, smiling. "What are you laughing at, love?"

"Sometimes it just hits me that this is all real." She says, taking another sip of her coffee.

He nods. "Aye, I never thought I would have this. I spent so many years on the Jolly Roger alone, I never thought I'd be as blessed as to have a real home with someone who loves me."

"Why did you chose this house?" Emma asked him, setting her cup down.

"Why, starting out the day quite serious, aren't we love?" He chuckles, leaning back in his chair a bit.

"I was just wondering. Why this house? I mean I love it and all, but I never thought we would end up in a house like this. I thought we would maybe be somewhere closer to the water in something, you know, smaller." She explains to him.

"Do you dislike the size of this home?" He is concerned.

"No, not that. It's just-you always lived in small places and so did I. So what made you want to get the biggest place you could find? Even when Henry is home, there is still so much space."

"Aye, that there is." He commented.

"So, why such a big house?" She further pressed the question.

Killian sighed. "There are many reasons I chose this one, love. For one, it had the white picket fence you are so fond of." She smirked at him, but let him continue. "This house was a promise, Swan. For our future. I wanted to give you something you had never had-a home. Not a house, but a home, where you could be truly happy. I wanted to show you how much I cared and how much I wanted a future as well. Show you that I am not leaving."

Emma fought back tears, moving her chair a bit closer so she could grasp his hand. "You really went through all that trouble just to show me you were going to stick around?"

"Love, for you, it was no trouble at all. I wanted to give you a real future."

"Thank you." She whispered. "So, what about the size?"

"Aye, I do agree it is large, but maybe one day we can remedy that." He said nervously. If she had not been holding his hand, he would have scratched behind his ear like he always did when he was nervous.

"And how exactly would we do that?" Emma asked, knowing what he was getting at. "Should we get a dog or something?"

"Not exactly what I had in mind, love, but if you want one-"

She cut him off so he did not need to ramble anymore. "You want kids?"

"It's something I have thought off." He said nervously. She just started at him until he gave his honest answer. "Yes. But if that is not something you want, Swan-"

"I'm not opposed to the idea." She interrupted him again.

"Really?" He questioned her.

Emma nodded. " I never really thought of having more kids after Henry. But then I met you and everything changed."

"You changed everything for me to, love. I never thought I would have a real shot at a future until you came along. Thank you for that."

Emma smiled at him. "Thank you, Killian. For everything. You have given up so much for me."

"It's not a sacrifice if I want to do it, love. And what I got in return was worth anything I could have ever once had."

Emma hummed in agreement, moving closer to his side. Anything she ever had was nothing compared to what she had with him. Her doubts were nothing compared to his love. Her pain held no candle to him and his comfort. Her fears were no match for their future.

And what a future it would be.

* * *

 _Thanks for reading! Don't forget to review! Also, check out my new mutli chatper fic In the Midst._

 _Leave your requests in the comments! See you soon!_


	13. This is Home Part 2: Full House

**Request from Mrscreativebaby :"Can you write a second part to this is home?"**

 **This takes place a few years after 'This is Home'. More more information about the names used in this fic, check out my one shot, Significance.**

 **I am still taking requests! Leave them in the comments!**

 **Enjoy!**

 _This is Home Part 2: Full House_

Emma remembered Saturdays spent relaxing, watching movies with Killian and Henry, sailing and having picnics during the warm weather and enjoying late breakfasts at Granny's.

It was safe to say Saturday's had changed in the past few years. Henry was getting older, spending a lot of his free time with his friends or trying to impress Paige. Emma alternated working weekends with her father, who had his own family at home to be with on the weekends. Thankfully, this was his weekend.

Emma peered over at the clock and saw a foriegn time. 8:00 a.m. She hadn't slept in that late on a weekend in months, probably years. She turned over in the bed to be greeted by cold sheets. She sighed and forced herself out of the bed.

Emma padded her way out to the large living room where she was met with shrieks of noise, some laughter and some tears. Her four year old daughter, Evie was happily playing with a tea set her grandmother got her for her birthday. Her almost two year old son, Liam, was frustrated that his sister did not understand his babbling.

Emma made her way to the kitchen to find Killian, trying to get breakfast for the kids while making sure they were being good. He smiled when he saw her and left what he was doing to move towards her. "Morning, my love." He gave her a quick kiss. "How are my girls feeling this morning?" He asked, putting a hand to her still flat stomach.

"We haven't found out the gender yet." She reminded him.

"I told you before, love. Pirate's intuition. I was right with Evie, was I not?"

"Yes, you were, but-" She was cut of by a screech from the other room. She rested her head on his chest. "Are you sure four was a good idea?"

"Aye, love. We had to fill this house somehow." He winked. She removed herself from his embrace to go find Liam, who was now a distraught mess.

"It's okay, bubba." She said, picking up the toddler, who calmed at her touch. Evie seemed unphased at her younger brother, not looking up once from her toys, which she considered a very serious business.

Killian called the kids for dinner, resulting in Evie bolting over to the table, completely forgetting about the toys. Emma strolled over with Liam in tow and set the boy in his high-chair. Evie was quick to dig into her french toast. She always insisted that Killian make breakfast on Saturdays. Emma hated to admit it, but Evie was a complete Daddy's girl.

"Papa, can we go sailing?" Evie asked, mouth stuffed with food.

"Slow down, baby girl." He told her, trying to hold back a laugh. "Not today. Soon." Emma and Killian had agreed to not go sailing as a family until her morning sickness completely passed in a few weeks.

Evie frowned. The little girl gave her father the best puppy eyes she could, but he would not budge. "Remember, Evie?" He spoke softly to her. "Momma has got a baby in her tummy."

At first, Evie had not been very excited about the idea of another sibling. With Liam, she insisted she wanted a girl baby, but when that did not happen, she realized she could be in charge of a little brother. But this time she was very adamant that she wanted a sister, and if not that, then a puppy. Liam was about the age Evie was when they found out they were pregnant with him. They had told him the same as his sister, but it did not actually phase him much. It probably would not sink in for him until they brought the baby home and he was not longer the baby of the house. That might result in some tears.

" sister." Little Evie stated.

Emma eyed Killian and decided to take this one. "Remember, we said we wouldn't know if you got a brother or a sister for a few more weeks."

Evie nodded. "But Neal got a sister." She told her parents as if it were obvious.

"Yes, little love, Neal got his little Ruthie." Killian said.

"So, I get a sister too. Minnie." The little girl continued.

Emma held back a laugh, at both her daughter and her confused husband. "Whose Minnie, Evie?"

"My sister."

When Killian realized it was from a show, he muttered. "Should we just have twins and name the other Mickey?"

Emma spoke before Evie could respond to her father. "We don't know what we are naming the baby yet, sweetheart."

"I choose Minnie." The little voice said again. She was nothing if not stubborn. Must have got that from her parents. She was very different than her brother, who was happy just to sit and bang his hands on his tray while getting in a few bits of food.

"What if we have a boy?" Killian asked Evie.

"You're not having a boy. It's my sister, Minnie." Killian sighed.

"Still liking the idea of a full house?" Emma teased her husband.

"Well, my pirate's intuition better be right, otherwise, we are getting a dog."

Three weeks later when they found out they were having a girl, both Killian and Evie let Emma know they had been right. And six months later when Amber Mackenzie Jones was born, Liam cried about no longer being the youngest, insisting he wanted a brother. Evie said babies were cute, but so were puppies. Emma rolled her eyes at her husband who was giving her a knowing smirk. As much work as their full house was, neither of them would have it any other way.

* * *

 _Up next: Something about jealously!_


	14. Breath

**So, I know I promised a jealousy fic, but after last nights episode, I needed to write this. I just wanted to know what was going through Killian's head when Emma was hurting. So here is a very short drabble about that. The promised jealousy story will be up soon.**

 _Breath_

Killian's thoughts when Nimue is hurting Emma

Nimue is strong, but Emma is stronger. There is no way Nimue can kill Emma, but she can sure hurt her. With one flick of her magic, she is restraining Emma, who is now choking.

It should not affect him. It didn't until until he saw her face. She was in pain, hurting, because of him and his plan. Sure, he was not the direct one choking her, but it was a result of him.

Visions of Emma and him played back in his head.

When they first met. She held the knife to his throat, making breathing a little harder.

Now it was the other way around.

He thought of their first kiss in Neverland where he was left breathless, hungry for more. Where he felt his heart open up again to the possibility of love.

He remembered her on their first date, when the image of her in that beautiful pink dress took his breath away.

There was the time where he held his breath, waiting for her to say it. Those three little words that she was holding in. He finally exhaled when she did say it, but it was too late. She was gone. She sacrificed herself for everyone. Just like she always had, just like she always would.

He remembered when he gave her the ring and her breath stopped. She was nervous, her walls shot up. Neither one of them was ready for that step, but they were ready for the future.

He let himself for a split second, while looking at Emma's pained face, relive the thoughts of the future he had. All the hopes he had for them, all the dreams he thought may one day come true.

Moving into the house he and Henry had picked out.

Lazy morning and late nights.

Dinner at Granny's and breakfasts at home.

Maybe, just maybe, one day marrying her. Starting a family with her. Having the thing neither of them ever had but both of them so desperately wanted.

He felt time stop as he saw Emma look up at him, desperate. She could not stop this, only he could. Only he could stop all of this. He needed to save her.

But his revenge. He had worked his entire life for this one moment. He could never give it up. Not for anyone.

He made eye contact with Emma again and he knew that that was a lie. He loved her more than anything. More than his life, more than his revenge. He would gladly die for her and gladly give up this consuming revenge for her to have a chance at a future.

He knew there was only one was for her to get a future. He had to save her.

Killian took a deep breath, knowing it would be one of his last. He turned his head slightly, just enough to see Nimue, but keep an eye on Emma. He would never let her out of his sight again, even if his time left was short. She was the reason his life was worth living, the reason he took his next breath.

"That's enough."

* * *

 _Up next: The jealousy fic promised from the last chapter_


	15. Subject to Change

**Two updates within an a day. That is procrasination at its finest.**

 **Here is the promised jealousy chapter. It is not my favorite I have written, but I to intend to work with jealousy again to get better with writing with it. Maybe something from the other perspective.**

 **Don' forget to leave a request for a one shot and check out my multi chapter fic, In the Midst. The newest chapter is now up!**

 **Request by Audrey: Something about jealousy**

 _Subject to Change_

They weren't really dating. Everyone thought they were. All their friends wondered why they weren't. Sometimes she wondered that.

He didn't like her. That was why. Emma and Killian had been best friends since eleventh grade. The duo went to college in Boston together and both got jobs in the city. They remained close and still were inseparable.

But when you are inseparable at twenty-three, your friends start to think something.

"You sure there is nothing going on?" Mary-Margaret, her roommate, would ask her.

"Look at the lovebirds." David, Mary-Margaret's fiancee, would tease when the four went out.

Nothing ever happened though. They stayed just friends. There had been moments where Emma thought they had been progressing towards something more, but they had all been flukes.

Tonight, Emma, Killian, Mary-Margaret and David were supposed to go out to their favorite college hangout, Grannies. The local dinner had become a favorite place for them to study, or more often, try to escape the duties they needed to get done for the next day.

Emma was running late tonight. It had been a long day at work, her car was on the fritz, and it seemed like everything that could go wrong did. But thankfully it was Friday, and she was able to relax with her friends tonight.

Emma walked into Granny's to find their usual booth occupied by four people, three of them the people meeting. To Killian's right was a woman with long thick dark hair and light eyes. She had a beautiful smile and seemed to be relaxed with the group.

Killian smiled when he saw Emma and removed himself from the booth to hug Emma. She forced herself to return in despite her confusion. He read her like an open book and pulled back to explain. "This is Milah."

"Milah works with us." David added in.

Emma leaned over to see past Killian. "Nice to meet you Milah."

Most of the night was awkward. Milah was a sweet girl, and Emma hated that. She wanted to hate Milah, but she could not find any real reason except she was getting Killian's attention. Not that Emma wanted Killian's attention. Why would she? Emma shouldn't care who Killian was with, who he flirted with. They were just friends.

 _Just friends_ she told herself when Milah made flirty comments. _Just friends_. She would think when Killian would say nothing to stop her. _Just friends_ Emma kept saying over and over in her mind, hoping it would stop sounding like a lie.

Emma and Killian did not mention Milah after that. She did notice he did not text her goodnight that night like he normally did. But who cared, right? He probably fell asleep. Not a big deal. Milah came out with them again the next week and Emma felt weird being with two couples (well a couple and two people who seemed to be headed in that direction). Ruby, a waitress she had worked with during college, picked up on her situation and called her over, telling her that Granny needed to tell her something.

Ruby pulled her into the kitchen. "What's going on, Ems? Who is she?"

"I don't know. Some girl from his work." Emma said casually, trying to make it seem like she did not care.

"Are they-" Ruby danced around the question, which was strange for her.

"Don't know, don't care." Emma said. Ruby shook her head before returning back to work. Emma shot Mary-Margaret a text saying that something had come up and sneaked out the back.

Emma and Killian talked even less the next week. He never texted her and she refused to be the one to initiate conversation. The next Friday night she stayed home to get work done.

The following week, close to a month of weirdness between the two of them, Emma's coworker, Walsh, asked her out. He had done so several times before, but she had been adamant that she did not want to date at that time. But this time when he asked her out for Friday night after work, she saw no reason to say no.

The Saturday after her date there was a knocking at her door, to early in the morning for her to want to respond. But the knocking did not stop, so she forced herself to put something decent on and answer the door.

"Coming." She mumbled as she reached the door, swinging it open to find Killian, to awake for this time on a Saturday morning.

"What are you doing here, Killian?" She said a bit too grouchy, but she did not care. He had been acting weird for a month AND he woke her up on a Saturday morning. He deserved the mood he was getting.

"What, I can't come say good morning to my best friend?" He tried, but Emma was unimpressed. "Okay, love. I wanted to talk to you."

"And you couldn't have texted me or maybe waited 'till a normal hour." She asked dryly.

"It's important." He told her with a serious face and she finally let him in. He was in darks jeans, a black tee and a vest. Much more dressed than her leggings and oversized sweater. They moved to sit on the couch before he began.

"I haven't seen you much lately, Swan. You missed the last two Granny's nights." He started out.

Emma nodded. "I had to work and then…" She realized she had never told him about Walsh. But he wouldn't care. He had Milah. "then I had a date last night."

"A date?" He asked. She always told him when she had a date (something that had not happened in a while).

"Yeah. How was last night?" She asked, trying to get the spotlight off of her.

"The three of us missed you, Swan."

"Three?" Emma asked until she realized Milah must have not gone. "What, your girlfriend ditch you?"

Killian sat confused. "My girlfriend? You mean Milah? Emma, she's not my girlfriend." Things must be serious. He rarely ever called her by her first name. It was always Swan, love, lass, but never Emma.

"You sure do act like it." Emma muttered under her breath.

"Emma, what's going on?" He asked her, but she cut him off.

"So, what did you need to talk about?" Emma changed the subject again.

"This." He motioned between them. "You are acting weird."

"No, I'm not." Emma defended. "You are."

"Is is about Milah?"

"If you are asking if I'm jealous, it's a no."

"Swan, you know what I mean. Things have been different." He explained. He was right-things had been different between them since Milah came into the picture. They were growing apart and neither one of them liked that.

Rather than agree with him, Emma went on the offensive. "Hey, you're the one who hasn't been talking to me."

"Aye. I haven't. And for that I am sorry."

"Why?" She asked. "Why did you stop talking to me? Tell me it was Milah or something and there is not something wrong with me." Her old fears started to creep in-that she was the problem, that she was unlovable.

"I made a mistake." He confessed. "With Milah, I mean. I thought there may be something there, but I was wrong."

"What happened?"

"I ended things." Killian told her.

Emma was shocked. She thought he had really liked this girl, from that she saw at least. This had been the first girl he they had not really discussed. "Why did you do that?"

"I realized my real intentions for going after her. It saved her the time though. She told me she would have ended things soon-apparently her husband would not approve of our relationship." She opened her mouth to speak, but he held up a hand. "Before you go on about how she was a shrew, let me explain. I have to get this off my chest. Will set me up with Milah. The bloody idiot did not know she was married though. He wanted me to get over someone else and he thought this was the perfect way."

"Over who?" Emma questioned. "You haven't had a serious relationship in years."

"Swan, I think you know." He refused to make eye contact.

It finally hit her that maybe people were making fun of them for something that was there.

"Killian-"She started, but he cut her off.

"Love, I know this is inopportune. You had a date and it went well-"

It was her turn to cut him off. Instead of using words though, she leaned in to kiss him and shut him up. It was a leap of faith, but it felt right. It felt like this was always supposed to be like this. She leaned back and whispered, "I didn't really enjoy that date. I think I just wanted to forget about someone myself."

"Is that true?" A smug look rising on his face. She would have kissed it off him, but they needed to talk about this. She could not lose him as a friend, as her best friend.

He saw the hesitance in her eyes and whispered to her. "It's okay, love. I am scared to. But some things are worth the risk."

"Okay." She said softly, to him as much as a reassurance to herself.

"So, Swan, were you actually jealous?" That smug look returned.

This time she kissed it off his face.


	16. No Choice

**I had this idea back around episode ten or eleven, but I just got the chance to write it. I really wanted to see something comparing what Snow and Charming did with to what Emma did. I promise the promised fluffiness to endure this hiatus will be back soon. But until then, enjoy. Don't forget to leave requests, comments, and follow and favorite. And go check out my multi-chapter fic, In the Midst.**

 **Now, enjoy.**

 _No Choice_

Emma still felt the power running through her veins, despite the cuff that was placed on her to contain and control it. It felt muffled, but was still evident. The darkness still spoke to her, still played in her head and made noise in her ears.

She was confused, hurt, angry-every emotion she had amplified due to the current situation. Killian was the other Dark One and she had no clue what he was up to, but he was angry all right. Angry at her for what she did. Not that she could blame him, but part of him had to understand why she did it. She did it for him-for their future.

Emma, lost in her thoughts, did not notice Killian flash himself into the room until he cleared his throat to announce his presence. The voices of the previous Dark Ones were in both of their heads now-he must have known she was thinking of him. It had happened other times, he would think of her and she would just know. Must be one of the perks of being co-Dark One with your significant other.

"Is that cuff bothering you, love?" He snickered at her. "To bad no one here loves you anymore, otherwise someone would help you with that bloody thing."

"They still love me." Emma gritted through clenched teeth.

"Ah, they just don't trust you anymore. Not that they should. After all the evil deeds you have done, you deserve no trust. You tricked them all."

"Everything I did was for-"

"I know, it was for me." He cut her off, angrily, "Such a shame. You did that all for someone you still lost."

"Killian is still in there." Emma whispered, taking a step closer to him.

"Your love sick puppy is gone. The man that you tried so hard to save is gone. And as a result, you have lost everything else. You truly must be the problem. Must be the reason you never got adopted as a child."

Emma ignored his bitter words. That was not Killian, it was the darkness. "I had to save you-I could not lose someone else. I couldn't lose the man I love."

"You see, love, that is where you are wrong. You make it sound like you did not have a choice, when you in fact did. And as a result, I lost my choice. You of all people should know what it is like to have you choice taken away. Yet, when someone does it to you, they are evil and wrong, but you do it, and you are some moral hero trying to save the man she loves."

Emma opened her mouth to respond, but he kept going. "When your parents took away your choice to be evil, you hated them. You would have lost them just to spite them. But you take away my choice to be good, to be the person _you_ wanted me to be, and that is all right!? Tell me why the double standard, Emma! Do the rules not apply to you?"

"I couldn't lose you!" She yelled again. "You promised me you were a survivor and you promised me a future. You were going to die and I did whatever I had to do save you. Don't tell me you would not have done the same thing?"

"I would have respected-"

"Bullcrap, you would have. You still love me Killian. And I know you are still in there. You think you have everyone fooled, but guess what? I know what it is like to be a Dark One. In case you forgot, I am one. "

"And your point is, love?"

"That I know what you are doing. It is the same thing I did. Try and convince everyone you don't care.I can see through the ruse, I always could."

"Ah, because you knew Killian so well. If that is true, why couldn't you tell that all you were to him was a pretty distraction? A break from the main goal?" He sneered at her, moving into her personal space.

"Because that is not true. Killian loves me. And I will get him back." Emma stated, determined.

"Good luck with that, darling. Because the man you loved is dead. Because of you."

With that, Killian vanished into a red vapor.

Emma knew she had to fix this. She owed everyone, including Killian, that much. She had to make everything right and get back the man she loved. He was still in there, no one could tell her otherwise.


	17. Chasing After All That You Are

**It is finals week, so I am not promising to many updates. But I had this written and figured we all need fluff.**

 **Don't forget to leave requests in the comments! Thank you all for reading!**

 _Chasing After All That You Are_

Emma was good at running, in more ways than one. Ever since she was little, she bad been running emotionally from her problems and from people. It was all she knew how to do. It had become second nature.

Somewhere along the lines of running from people metaphysically, she learned that she was quite fast on her own two feet. The constant switching of schools did not allow for her to participate on a school's track team, but in her spare time, as a way of getting out of the house and clearing her mind, she would run. That habit had lasted well into her adult years.

September in Storybrooke was perfect running weather. The air was chilled, but not cold, the last remnants of summer still holding on. She had moved to Storybrooke at twenty-three, needing a fresh start. The small town had been able to offer that to her. Nice people, simple way of life-it was all exactly what she needed.

Emma ran the same route most days. Storybrooke was not a big town, which meant the trails were left to a minimum. After a few attempts of switching up her run to add some variety Emma concluded that there was no point in reinventing the wheel.

It was later than Emma normally ran, the sun shining high in the sky. Today was Emma's day off from her job at the Sheriff's station, but she would be insane if she did not let herself sleep in until at least ten.

She started her run at a steady pace, heading towards the forest. She would always run in the forest, which was the majority of her run, and in the park before returning home. Some days, when she wanted to add an extra mile, she would run on the beach too.

The town was quiet, everyone busy with their own life, leaving Emma the perfect atmosphere to clear her head. Life was nice in Storybrooke. It was the stereotypical small town that she had always wanted to live in as a kid. Her upbringing left her yearning for something like a home, and Storybrooke was the closest thing she was getting to that dream.

Emma lost track of time every time she came out running, and this run was no exclusion. Somewhere around the forest, she was pulled out of her trance by the sound of footsteps. She turned around slowly, pretending to catch her breath, to see another runner a few yards back. Emma had never encountered another runner on one of her runs. Normally she went to early in the morning for someone else to be up, or she went while everyone else was at work.

To add to it, Emma did not even recognize the man running. As sheriff of the small town, Emma knew most of the inhabitants. She did not know everyone well, but she was at least able to put a name with a face. But with this guy, she couldn't. What a shame it was too. He had a nice face.

She made eye-contact with the mystery man for a split second as he ran past her. She stood up straight, finding her second wind. She bolted into a run, moving right past him and a few yards ahead. His laughter could be heard from where she was running.

He ran past her again, but it did not last for long. As soon as Emma could see him coming up behind her in her peripheral vision, she started pushing herself more and caught up with him, turning her head to give him a smirk.

As she turned back around and continued to run, making sure she kept the upper hand. Emma took a second to remember his face. He had dark features, except for his piercing blue eyes. His dark hair flopped a bit as he ran, but it suited him.

He clearly had no intentions of letting her win whatever this was, so when they were nearing the park, he cut in front of her again. Instead of taking the pavement path, me moved onto the grass clearing. She followed, only so that she could run in front of him again and win this before returning home. Emma Swan did not lose and she most certainly did not give up.

She struggled to catch up as the distance between them grew larger. She pushed herself, reminding herself that she needed to win. Emma knew the mystery man was telling himself the same thing. She started gaining momentum, only for him to fall and tumble onto the ground.

Emma ran over to him and extended a hand, trying to see his face to make sure he was alright. Before Emma knew what was happening, he took her hand and pulled her down with him, laughing the entire time.

"What was that for?" Emma asked when she finally caught her breath.

"I apologize, love, but this was the only way I could think of to meet the gorgeous girl I have been running with." He says with a thick accent-something European.

Emma sat up to scan him. "So, you faked falling?"

"Guilty. I had to know who you were."

Emma smiled at him. She felt a strange connection to this stranger, something she had never felt before.

"Emma Swan." She answered before her her walls could shoot up and her mind could tell her this was a bad idea.

"Killian Jones." He said as he too sat up. "I must apologize for making you fall though. Maybe I could make it up to you by buying you a coffee?"

"Sure." Emma surprised herself. It was unlike her to go out with a stranger, even if it were just for was something very different about this guy. Emma did not know what it was, but she intended to find out.

Killian stood up quickly and extended his hand to her, which she accepted. They started walking towards town and she leaned over closer to him. "You know, you could've milked that 'injury' for all it was worth. Could have gotten my to take you to coffee and kiss it all better." Emma joked.

"Is the kissing it all better still an option?" He teased back. She gently hit his shoulder and he said. "I wouldn't have done that, love. Tis bad form."

"Bad form? What's that?" Emma questioned.

"Guess you'll have to find out." He led on.

Yes, yes she would have to find out, because Emma Swan did not like to give up. Ever.

* * *

 _Up next: Not 100% sure. I personal prompts I can use if no one leaves a prompt (hint hint)._

 _Thanks for reading! See you next time!_


	18. With This Ring

**So, I have wanted to write this for a while now, but I finally got the chance. Hope you all like it! Please leave requests for new one shots in the comments!**

 _With This Ring_

Seven weeks. Seven stinking long weeks. It never took that long to execute a rescue mission. Neverland had been a long few weeks, but in a land where time stood still, it was hard to remember exactly how long they were there.

But it had been torture. They had found Killian in the Underworld with no problem. But getting back to Storybrooke was another problem. So, they found themselves stuck in the Underworld for the seven had finally figured out a way was obvious everyone was itching to get back, especially those who had left their children in the care of the fairies.

The travel was tiring. It took longer to leave the Underworld than it did to come, but Emma was not complaining. Killian was alive, everything would be alright. They had used the past seven weeks to talk about all that needed to be discussed-their time as the Dark Ones, decisions both of them made, things that were said. At one point, when apologies were no longer being given, they changed the subject and started to talk about the future.

They were both open, very open, to a future together. Once they got back, they would move into the house he had gotten and finally start that future. Emma was excited. For the first time in her life, she was not scared of the future.

Thoughts of the future were the only thing that kept Emma sane during the trip back. That and Killian's strong arm around her shoulder. He could tell when she would get nervous or anxious and pull her closer into his embrace.

Time faded and Emma did not realize they were back until Henry let out a holler of excitement. The Operation had been a success. No one really took time to celebrate though. Mary-Margaret and David made sure their daughter was alright before rushing to see Neal. Robin and Regina took Henry to go get Roland and the new baby, who was still yet to be named in the midst of all the chaos.

Emma and Killian stood in silence, neither one processing the fact that it was all over. Finally, Emma stepped forward and put her arms around him. He pulled her close and she rested her head on his chest. They did not speak, but they did not need to. They both knew what it meant. They could finally relax and have the future they both fought to hard for.

Emma leaned back out of his embrace to remove the necklace with his ring that she had been wearing ever since he had given it to her. She gently placed it around his neck and smiled up at him.

"I would rather not make any more trips to the underworld, so why don't you wear this." Emma explained as she patted the necklace that now lay on his chest.

He laughed. "My love, it's yours. I know I no longer need it to survive. You are reason enough." Killian kissed her forehead.

"Killian, I would really prefer if you took it back. I can not go through that all again." She pushed.

"And you won't." He reassured her. "I am not going anywhere."

"We are safe now. I don't need the ring. I know I have a dashing pirate that love me." Emma teases a bit, but she was completely serious. She knew he loved her, she did not need anything else to tell her so.

Killian raised an eyebrow at her, that ever present smirk returning. "Alright then, I'll take the necklace back, but on one condition. You let me give you a new one."

Before Emma could respond, his lips were on hers. They had not had a plethora of quiet moments, but she learned to enjoy the ones they had. She smiled into the kiss, before he leaned back, tugging a chain over his neck with his good hand. Emma looked to the ring hanging off of it to find, not Liam's ring, but a silver band with a single diamond.

Emma looked up at him, confused. He leaned to whisper in her ear. "This time I'm proposing."

Before Emma's mind could catch up with what was going on, Killian was before her, down on one knee, shooting a nervous smile up at her. "My Swan, my love. You are my everything. I love you more than I could ever describe. These past few weeks have shown me that what I want more than anything else is a future with you, no matter what it may look like. So, Emma, will you marry me?"

Emma whispered a quiet yes through the tears as he removed the ring from the chain and slipped the ring on her finger. He stood up quickly, wrapping her up in his arms and lifting her up off the ground and whispering I love you's in her ear.

"I know it's small, but-"

"It's perfect." Emma cut him off. "I love it. And you."

"I guess it's a good thing I have that ring now." He told her."I need to survive your father until the wedding."

Emma laughed, but instead of responding, kissed him again.

That night at the celebratory dinner at Granny's, it was good news all around. Robin and Regina announced the name of the little girl-now to be known as Raelee Danielle. Belle announced her own pregnancy, stating she found out while everyone else was in the Underworld and had just told Rumple today. Finally, when things started to settle down, Killian gathered everyone's attention and told them of the latest milestone in his relationship with Emma. The family was ecstatic, especially Henry, who let everyone know that Operation Light Swan was his idea and had been a major success.

Emma took in the scene in front of her. Her job as Savior had been to restore the happy endings, but she was pretty sure everyone was doing a fine job at finding their own. As for her and her pirate, they surely had their own happy ending in store.


	19. Simple Little Christmas

**Merry Christmas Eve everybody! I originally was not going to write a Christmas one shot, but then inspiration struck and it had to be written. Hope you enjoy it and hope you all have a wonderful holiday!**

 _Simple Little Christmas_

Storybrooke was as festive as ever during the Christmas season. The residents took the holiday in stride, plunging into the traditions of the tree, lights and endless food. A holiday of cheer was truly a holiday for fairy-tale folk.

Explaining Christmas to Killian was not to hard. That task was mostly left up to Henry, who willingly explained the reason for the holiday and how it was celebrated. This was Killian's second Christmas since meeting Emma, but the first that they would spend together, as the first occurred during the missing year.

Emma was excited for their first Christmas together. This was really her first true Christmas with her entire family, with no villain and no curse threatening to ruin the festivities. Christmas had not exactly been an exciting time in the foster system-the constant bouncing from one house to another resulted in rarely being settled in a house for the holidays or being in a group home with too many mouths to feed and no way or providing gifts to all of them. She had only ever had one real Christmas-the one with Henry during the missing year, but that was based off of false memories. This time would be different though-she was with her entire family and they could celebrate the holidays together.

The plan was for everyone to have to have their own seperate Christmas in the morning, with Henry starting out at Regina's in the morning and coming over to Emma's around lunch to open his presents (which was fine by Emma because she was not a morning person and she was positive Henry would be up at the crack of dawn). Then everyone would go to Snow and Charming's loft for Christmas dinner.

Everyone really deserved this time to be together and relax after everything that they had been through-from Emma being the dark one to the journey to the Underworld. Emma and Killian were still healing from the physical and emotional scars of the past few months. Emma hoped that Christmas would help them both. They could just spend some much needed time together, exchange their gifts and create new traditions for the years to come.

Christmas music quickly became Hook's favorite thing, minus the mistletoe tradition, but music was less scarring for Henry. The house was always filled with tunes, whether it be contemporary music or older classics. Emma found that soon she was humming the songs throughout most of the day, at work and at home.

One day, humming away, Emma was putting away laundry, in a strangely happy mood. She was still at the point where she was having her good days and her bad days. Her bad days were awful-panic attacks, tears, the list went on. But the good days, which were thankfully becoming more frequent, were peaceful.

She was in no way Suzie home maker. Cooking, cleaning, and laundry definitely were not her skill set, but it had to get done. She and Killian split the chores so they would at least get done. He normally would help with washing the clothes, as his leather was a bit more complex, but sometimes, like today, Emma would just do it all so the two of them could spend a bit more time together just relaxing.

While putting some clothes away, she saw something on his side of the closet. A bag was sitting at the top, with the opening facing towards her. She was nothing if not curious, letting herself have a little peak, reasoning that if he did not want her to see it, he would not have put it in plain sight.

Inside was a compass necklace, sitting in a little box, the top most likely having fallen off. Emma immediately put it back, feeling instanly guilty for seeing it. It had to be her Christmas gift. That was why it was hidden-if it was for anyone else, he definitely would have left it somewhere else, but since it was for her, he needed to hide it before he wrapped it for her.

Emma went about the rest of her day trying to forget what she saw. It was probably a necklace for himself, she reasoned. Or it was for someone else. But the significance of it-the compass went all the way back to when they first met. It had to be for her! But it was not her fault that she saw it, he would understand, right?

When Killian got home, he instantly saw something was off. For someone who was the human lie detector, she was awful at keeping things hidden from him. Must be part of that whole sharing a heart thing. He came into their bedroom, and even before greeting her with a kiss like he always did, he asked her, "What's wrong, love?"

"Nothing." She stood and went over to hug him. He reciprocated the embrace, but soon pulled back to look at her.

"Love, don't lie to me. Something is wrong. You can tell me anything, Emma." He comforted her. He most likely assumed she had been wrestling with the demons that haunted both of them often.

She slipped out of his arms and took his hand, leading him to sit on the edge of the bed with her. "I may have seen something." Emma said nervously.

He raised an eyebrow. "What is it, love?"

Emma sighed, knowing she had to come clean. "The compass necklace in the closet." Killian seemed deflated when she said it, so she continued talking before he could say anything. "I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to.I was just putting away laundry and it was there and I figured if it was anything important it wouldn't be there and-" She rambled.

"In my defense, you rarely put away the laundry, so I thought that was a safe place."

"I'm sorry, Killian. It is beautiful though. I love it know and I will love it on Christmas morning. And I love you know and I will probably love you even more then." He smiled, and placed his hand on her knee, leaning over to give her a quick kiss.

"It's alright, lass. I guess we just need to get better at this for next Christmas." He laughed.

"Yeah, we do."

"I guess it's a good thing I got you something else." Killian let out.

She punched his shoulder, lightly, giggling. "There was something else!? You let me feel bad for nothing?"

"Not for nothing, love? You were snooping a be the pirate in you." He smirked. "I think it is only fair that I get to know part of my gift now."

Emma laughed and stood, then turned around to face him. " I don't think so."

He stood and stepped into her personal space. "Well, maybe you could just give me another gift then?"

"You're impossible." She put her arms around his waist.

"You love me though." Killian reminded her.

"Yeah, I do."

Emma was right-she did love him more on Christmas morning. The necklace was still as beautiful as the day she accidentally found it, but the ring and the promise of being together were her favorite things from the morning. The best gift she got was the promotion from girlfriend to fiancee.


	20. About A Million Times

**Hello about the delay with updating. Things have been crazy, but I should get back into my routine soon. This is an old song fic based on the Yellow Cavilers song, So Beautiful. I uploaded a while ago, but then decided to take down. I figured if I did not have time to write something new, I could upload this. Hope you all like it.**

 **For those of you following In the Midst, the next chapter should be out soon.. Keep your eyes out for that.**

 **Hope you enjoy it! Please review.**

 _About A Million Times_

 _The day had finally come_

 _When two would become one_

 _She's walking down the aisle_

 _And he can't help but smile_

 _Pastor starts to tall ans he leans over_

 _Cause he can't help himself_

 _He has to tell her_

 _You've never looked so beautiful_

 _I've never felt a love like this before_

 _And I know it's true_

 _I said it about a million tomes to you_

 _But yet we now_

 _You've never looked more beautiful than now_

Killian felt like he was in a dream. If so,he never wanted to wake up. It was the best day of his life by far. Nothing felt real.

They were aboard the Jolly Rodger, his and Emma's closest family and friends surrounding them, smiles of pure joy plastered on their faces. His eyes were not on them though. They desperately looked for Emma. His bride.

The surreal feeling that he would have the privilege to marry Emma had never faded from him. It arrived the day he proposed and would never leave. He thanked heavens for her and the fact that he could spend the rest of his days next to her.

His eyes met hers as she slowly made her way to him, accompanied by David. She looked absolutely breathtaking. His Swan was marvelous, dressed in a full white gown which flowed from her frame. Her hair was let down, curls falling over her shoulders. She smiled bigger than he had ever seen. Her eyes lit up, sparkling with every step.

Her walk down the aisle seemed to last for days, but Killian didn't mind. He could look at her for eternity and still want more time with her. David gave her to him and he couldn't help himself, leaning over to her and whispering to her ear.

"You look absolutely stunning."

She smiled up at him, the look in her eyes being more than enough of a thank you. Throughout the entire ceremony, his eyes were glued to her. He had the most beautiful woman in the realms in front of him. He'd be a bloody fool to look anywhere else.

 _Now the wedding day was done_

 _Her hair and makeup gone_

 _For the first time in his life_

 _He wakes up to his wife_

 _She's not quite awake but he leans over_

 _Cause he can't help himself he has to tell her_

 _You've never looked so beautiful_

 _I've never felt a love like this before_

 _And I know it's true_

 _I said it about a million times to you_

 _But yet somehow_

 _You've never looked more beautiful than now_

Killian had always been an early riser. The navy had whipped that into him and the routine had never left, even years after leaving the ways of a ship. He never minded though. He would rise with the sun, enjoying his mornings and having more time to accomplish what he needed.

But today, he had no problem staying in bed, wide awake, and just laying there, staring at the treasure next to him. Emma's curls spread out along the pillows, gently framing her face. She looked at peace when she slept, with no makeup and no worries.

Killian loved seeing her like this. She was at peace and one else got to see her like this. He felt quite honored. She was her truest self, without a care in the world. She did not have to worry about the next villain or the next fight. She could just rest, her beauty somehow amplified without her even knowing.

 _The day had finally come_

 _When they would have a son_

 _Now a he's staring in her eyes_

 _As she holds his child_

 _You've never looked so beautiful_

 _I've never felt a love like this before_

 _And I know it's true_

 _I said it about a million times to you_

 _But yet somehow_

 _You've never looked more beautiful than now_

He fought back tears as he looked down at Emma and their little child. His little boy. He had felt the same exact way two years ago when their daughter, Evie, was born. Joy overwhelmed him, overtook him, and burst from him in his smile and eyes.

He knelt next to her, glancing at her and his child, while her eyes were fixed on the little boy. Liam. Emma had insisted they name the child Liam. So, Liam Micah it was.

The door slightly opened, revealing Mary Margaret with a little two year old Evie shyly standing at the door. Killian went to swoop her up, bring her to see her younger brother. He returned to Emma, who scooted over in her hospital bed and motioned for Evie to join her. The little girl snuggled up against her mother. Emma wrapped an arm around Evie and kept an arm under Liam.

The scene in front of him was one of the best things Killian had ever seen. He had explored the seven seas, been to foreign lands and seen amazing things, but nothing could possibly top this. His beautiful wife holding their two children, who were half him and half her. He hoped they got more from her though. Her looks, personality, everything. If those kids were half the person Emma was, they'd be pretty lucky.

At the end of the day, Killian reminded himself he was the luckiest of all.


	21. Brother

**I am sooooo sorry I have not written an one shot in so long. Things have been crazy and I have been focusing on my story, In the Midst. This is an idea I have had for a while though and I wanted to get it in before the Spring premiere. Hope you enjoy it!**

 _Brother_

Maybe splitting up was not their best idea. Emma blames the adrenaline and lack of sleep for her faulty judgement, but she had to find Killian and this had seemed like the best way to go about it. More eyes in more spots would get the job done faster, right?

Wrong.

What felt like years had passed since they entered the Underworld in search of Killian. Shortly after their arrival, the group of heros decided to break up, all of them going in separate directions. She could only guess who and what the others had run into by now.

They already knew Cruella was here, but who else from their past might be in this place? Names and faces of the dead ran through Emma's mind. Pan, The Snow Queen, Neal, Graham, Cora, her uncle James, , Walsh, Merlin, the list went on. Emma had no idea how many encounters they would all have. Some of them more be harder than others.

"Excuse me, lass, but what are you doing with my ring around your neck?" A accented voice pulled her daze. She looked up, optimistically, too much hope in her eyes. Her hope sank as fast as it had risen. The face that greeted her was not that of her dashing pirate, but instead a tall man with dark curly hair, bearing a resemblance to Killian.

"I'm sorry, what?" Emma turned to face the man, confusion written all over her face. They were standing on the sidewalk near what should have been her parents loft. It all looked so familiar yet seemed so foreign.

"My ring." He pointed towards Emma's chest where the necklace dangled. "It's around your neck. How did you get it?"

His ring? Killian had told her the ring belonged to his brother, in a moment of hurt and desperation to get her to change. He gave her the ring to remember that he loved her. That he was waiting for her.

"You're Liam?" Emma whispered, clutching the ring in her hand.

"Aye." He took a good look at her, taking a step back. "And who might you be?"

She swallowed hard. "Emma Swan."

"I don't believe we've met before, Emma."

"We haven't" This would sure be fun explaining to him. The whole thing was hard to get through her own head and she was living it.

"You still haven't answered my question. Why are you wearing my ring?"

"You're brother gave it to me."

Liam's eyes lit up. "My brother? You knew Killian? How?"

"It's a bit of a complicated story. But we know each other. Well."

"You two in love?" Liam spoke the words that had been playing in Emma's mind. "He wouldn't give anyone my ring unless they were important."

"Yes." Emma said more confidently than she expected. "He gave me the ring as a reminder that he loved me."

"You two married?" Emma just shook her head at the question, remembering the conversation she had with Killian when he gave her the ring.

"What happened to him?"

Her last moments with Killian replayed through her head. He did not die-she had killed him. He had asked her to kill him. He was in this place, this awful terrible place, because of her. She had done this too him.

"He died."

"When?"

Emma internally thanked him that he did not ask how. "Yesterday." Emma was not really sure how accurate that was, since she had no clue how long they had been down in the Underworld. Time felt slower here.

Liam raised his eyebrow. It must have been a family trait. "My brother was born over three hundred years ago. How in the world did he just die yesterday."

"He spend some time in Neverland-and then there was this curse for twenty-eight years." Emma tried to explain. "I told you it's kinda complicated."

Liam turned around, running his hands through his hair. When he turned back to Emma, she was met with an angry face. "You're lying. My brother would never go back to Neverland."

"He was there for a long time." Emma tried to convince him. "He needed time so he went there."

"Time for what?" Liam gritted under his breath.

Emma hesitated. Killian should be the one to tell him everything, not her. "Look, your brother lived a long life. And he made some mistakes after you died that he regrets. But he is a good man."

That did not satisfy him. "I don't know what you are-a witch, or a pirate or what, but you did not know my brother." With a final shout, Liam started to walk away.

Emma racked her brain for what would convince him. "You're father abandoned you as a child." That got his turned around slowly to face her.

"You were all on a ship and he left in the middle of the night. There had been a thunderstorm the night he left. The storm scared Killian and your father calmed him down-that was their last conversation before he left."

"How do you know that?" Liam whispered.

Emma took a step forward. "You died from nightshade in Neverland. Your king told you and Killian to go and get it. Peter Pan told you it was poison, but you did not believe him so you used it on yourself. Killian revived you with the water, but it stopped working once you left the island."

"How do you know that?"He repeated, angrier this time.

"Killian told me. He's told me everything. Everything from his childhood to his days on the Jewel of the Realm."

"You really knew him?" Liam tendered a bit. Emma nodded.

"And he truly loved you?"

"Yes. We are in love."

"So, why are you here? When did you die? Shortly after my brother? Is he here?" Liam was filled with questions.

"I never died. I came here because I think he might be here. I want to bring him back."

"That's not how this works, Emma." Liam warned her.

"He died unjustly. And I have this figured out. No one has to die to take his place." Emma explained without giving too much away.

"My brother is lucky. He's got someone who loves him so much they would follow him to the Underworld."

Emma blushed. "He would have come for you if he had known more about magic."

Liam's eyes widened. "You have magic? Seriously? If I was not dead, I would be convinced I was dreaming."

"Welcome to my world." Emma said under her breath.

"Did you come down here alone or-?

"Group." Emma cut him off. "Six of us. We split up though."

Liam chuckled. "Whose great idea was it to split up and walk aimlessly through the land of the dead."

"It was not one of my finer calls." Emma defended.

Liam just laughed. "Well, if what you say is true, I would love to help reunite my little brother to his love."

"We would love the help." Emma smiled at him.

"Well, then, my lady, let us go find my brother."


	22. Lost

**Here is a little Lost based one shot because Lost is my other obsession. This is the one of the first scenes in the pilot where Jack and Kate first meet. Kate is Emma and Jack is Killian. I hope you all like it! Shout out to all my losties out there!**

 **Feel free to leave requests for new one shots.**

 _Lost_

"Excuse me!"

A desperate voice pulled Emma out of her daze. She turned her head, slightly, to see a man on his knees, side coated in blood.

"Did you ever use a needle?" His accented voice asked her, using his hands to signify what he was asking in case she did not speak English.

Emma pressed her lips together. The wind blew on her face, cooling her down. She eyed the man. He was tall, dark hair and dark features, with blue eyes resembling the ocean behind him. He kneeled in the sand, trees on his one side and rocks all around him. His white dress shirt, soaked with the red liquid also on his side, was discarded on the ground.

"What?" She forced out.

"Did you ever-" His breath was unsteady, but he had good reason for that. "patch a pair of jeans?" His hands repeated the sowing motion.

"I, um." She closed her eyes, as if she was trying to remember something from a previous life. It might as well be though. They were on a island. Their plane had just crashed here. Anything before that felt like another life. "I made the drapes in my apartment."

"That's bloody fantastic!" His sullen voice cried. He looked pale, terrified, and in pain. "Do you have a second? I could use a little help here."

Of course she had time. They all did. It was not like she could go anywhere. They were stuck. Emma did not say yes, or even nod, just walked towards the man, the man pleading with her for help,kneeling in the sand.

"Help with what?"

He raised his arm and turned towards her, revealing the full extent of his wound. Emma grimaced. "With this." His voice calmed a bit, now that he knew he was getting help. "Look, I'd do it myself." He rushed his words together. "I'm a doctor-I just can't reach it-"

"You want me to sew that up?" Emma asked, repulsed.

"It's just like the drapes. It's the same thing." He assured her. Something is his voice trusted her, despite not even knowing her name. The only reason they were having this interaction is that they were both poor unfortunate souls who boarded a fateful plane that crashed on some deserted island.

"With the drapes I used a sewing machine." Her voice caught with emotion as she finally realized the weight of the situation. People were going to die and she was no Savior. She could do nothing to stop it.

"No! You can do this!" His accented voice pleaded again. His eyes looked at her as if she was a miracle worker, here to save him from his untimely doom. "I'm telling you. If you wouldn't mind-" He panted, the heat and adrenaline catching up to him.

"Of course." She whispered, ignoring his thanks.

He handed her a bottle of liquid. "It's for your hand."

"How did you get a bottle of rum on the plane?" She joked despite herself.

"It's not rum, love. If it was, it would have been gone already." He kneeled closer to her so she could reach the injury. "Save me some though." She raised her eyebrow at him. He did not look like a heavy drinker, but a plane crash could drive anyone to need a pint. "For the wound." He explained.

Emma picked up the little box he had with a needle and thread. "Any color preference?"

He laughed and for a second it almost seemed like they were not survivors of a plane crash, but just normal people, talking. "No. Standard black." He reached around her, grabbing the alcoholic beverage he still had not told her how had gotten and poured it on his side.

Emma gently placed her hand on his side, taking a long breath in before starting. She had to force herself to keep her eyes open and not look away.

"You can do it, love." He whispered to her.

"Emma. My name is Emma."

"Killian. I would tell you that it is nice to meet you, but all things considered."

"Noted." Emma kept her hand as steady as she could, trying to calm down her shaking hand. "I might throw up on you."

"You're doing fine." He gritted through his teeth.

"You don't seem afraid at all." Emma pointed out to him, keeping her eyes on his side instead of looking up at his face. "I don't understand that."

"Well, fear is sort of an odd thing-" He paused for a second, grunting from the pain. "When I was in residency, my first solo procedure was a spinal surgery on a sixteen year old lass. After thirteen hours, I was closing her up and I accidently ripped her dural sac. It's at the base of the spine where all the nerves come together. The membrane-its at thin as tissue.

"So, it ripped open." He continued. "Nerves just spilled out of her like angel hair fluid flowing out of her-the terror was just so...crazy. I knew I had to deal with it, though. So, I just made a choice. I let the fear in, let it take over and do its thing. But only for five seconds. That was all I would bloody give it. So I started to count. One, two, three, four, five. And it was gone."

Emma stopped sewing to look up at him, never moving from her position.

"I went back to work, sewed her up and the lass was fine." He finished.

"If that had been me-"Emma finally spoke. "I would have run for the door.

"No, I don't think that's true." Killian shook his head."You're not running now."

"You don't know me." She whispered as she finished sewing his side.

"You are something of an open book to me, Emma." It was the first time he had used her given name. "You are stronger than you think."

"Thank you." She put away the thread and needle, letting him inspect her work.

"No. Thank you, love." He stood.

"It's no problem." She rose to her feet, waiting for him to say something else.

"I should probably get to the beach." He told her. "Make sure everyone else is fine." Emma just nodded.

"You are welcome to come, love. I could sure use some assistance."

Emma laughed."I think I will leave the medical part to you. But I am sure I can find some way to help on the beach."

"Aye. That you can."

Emma felt a little less afraid than she had in the first moments when they had crashed. They were both headstrong, despite the physical and emotional pain. They would make sure everyone was safe and got off this island. Emma found it ironic that it took surviving a plane crash to finally find someone who would look after her, but she would take what she could get.

As the two of them walked towards the wreckage, Emma felt Killian give her hand a squeeze. The two of them would get through this-together.


	23. My Song

**Okay, so this one is based on the movie The Song. It is the scenes where Jed and Rose first meets and he sings to her at the festival. To hear what the song sounds like here is the link** **watch?v=Z3p50A1SFR0**

 **Enjoy!**

 _My Song_

Killian Jones could not believe he had accepted this gig.

But then again, he desperately needed this gig, so yes he could.

Somehow, Smee, the family friend turned manager, convinced him that singing at this harvest festival would be "good publicity." Little did he mention that this harvest party was in the middle of nowhere.

Before Killian could even roll his eyes, a voice caught his attention.

"Killian?" He turned slightly, peering through his sunglasses to see a young woman approaching him. "Are you Killian Jones?"

She was beautiful. Long blonde hair flowing over her shoulders, breezing with the wind. Her green eyes lit up when she spoke and her smile-oh her smile. There was something about this girl. Dresses simply in jeans and a white tee shirt with a red leather jacket, confident to the brim. There was something that Killian liked about this girl. He was so caught up in all that was her that he could only say "Yes."

"I'm Emma Nolan." He gave her a strange look, racking his brain for her name, before she jumped in. "We spoke on the phone."

"Right." He mentally kicked himself. "Right. It's nice to meet you, love." He extended his hand which she firmly shook.

"This your vineyard?" He asked her, looking around the place.

"My parents, technically." She shrugged. "Except they seem to act as if I am going to inherit like royalty."

"It's beautiful." He whispered.

She seemed oblivious to that last comment. "Well, my dad will want to you are are here." Emma waited for a moment, before moving past him. Killian stood still for a moment, unsure, before going to follow her. A man, whom he presumed was her father, squatted next to an old motor engine, trying to fix something with it.

"Dad. Killian Jones is here." She informed him. Her father did not look up at her, focusing his attention on the motor. "Who?"

"The music guy."

"Right." Her father stood up and Killian straightened (because this was a job and he had to make a good impression).

"It's nice to meet you, Sir. I'm Killian Jones." He extended his hand again, ever the gentleman.

"You're Brennan Jones's kid?" The asked hesitantly as they shook hands. Killian gave a small nod, not knowing how to answer. His father, well, had a reputation in the music industry. Brennan Jones had been the biggest star of his time-both due to his music and downfall. He left his family, turned to a life of partying, alcohol and woman, and ruined the career he had strived to create.

"Emma, I've got a lot of work to do. Would you mind showing him the stage?" Her father spoke up again.

"Sure." Emma smiled at there father before motioning for Killian to follow her. "I'm sorry about him. The whole harvest thing is stressful and with work- He does not really get a break."

"It's fine." Killian reassured her as they walked.

"Who did he say your father was?" She turned to him.

"Brennan Jones." He enunciated the syllables.

"He a singer too?" She asked nonchalantly.

Killian stopped walking, both out of surprise and also so he could see her. "Really?"

"Don't know a lot about music." Emma shrugged, seeming a bit embarrassed.

He was about to tell her not to apologize, that her not knowing his father was probably a good thing, but a couple walked up to them, grabbing Emma's attention.

"Hey Ems." A young man, probably around Emma's age, maybe a year or two older, said.

"Neal-" Emma said quietly. Killian's eyes looked down at her, making sure she was alright, and saw the deflation in her face. "What are you doing here?"

"Free wine." He stated as if it were so obvious. "You know I always loved wine." Emma looked as if she were suppressing an eye roll.

Neal motioned to the woman standing beside him. "This is Tamera. You remember her, right?"

"I remember." By the sound of Emma's voice, it sounded like she would much rather forget.

"So," Neal waved his wine glass in his hand as he motioned to Killian and Emma. "Are you two-?"

"No." Emma said immediately.

"Yes." Killian stepped, in, looking down at Emma with a smile. "Yes, don't be shy, love." He turned back to Neal. "Killian Jones."

That seemed to shut Neal up, if only for a moment. He ignored Killian's gesture to shake hands, instead standing closer to Tamara, sipping his wine with his other hand.

"You moved on quick, Em" Neal stated smuggly.

"Not as quick as you." Her voice was bitter. "What was it, three months before we broke up?" Neal's face turned sour when she finally bit back.

"We should get going. I'll see you later Em." Neal walked off before Emma could even open her mouth.

"Sorry." Emma whispered. "It's this way." She started walking again.

"He seem's like a real winner, aye?" He called after her, not catching up to her until they were at the tiny stage he would perform at that night."Emma, love you deserve better." He said before she could even get a word out about the stage.

""I know that." She whispered, kicking her feet at the dirt they were standing on. She spoke again, her voice louder this time. "I know I deserve better than some guy who will cheat on me, but I don't know if that exists and-" Emma finally looked up at him. "And I just said that out loud."

"You're an open book to me, love. Even if it's in your head, I will know you are thinking something." Her cheeks reddened at his words.

Killian loved when she got a bit embarrassed and blushed. The look suited her.

"I'm so sorry, I-"

"No, love. I-" He tried to seem as natural as possible. "Maybe when this is all done, we could go out?"

Emma took a step back. "Killian, you seem nice, but I don't even know you. And I don't need some new relationship just because Neal was a jerk."

"I know you don't. You are perfect by yourself" He smiled at her.

"Sometimes it just kills to see him with her, you know?"

"Well, I'd hate for you to die." He smirked a bit, raising his eyebrow.

Emma smiled, before whispering a goodbye and walking off to finish her jobs for the festival. Killian replayed the last thing he said in his head. How could this girl get him so tongue tied. He sounded like an idiot.

What was she doing to him?

* * *

Killian rarely got nervous before a performance. Tonight, guitar in hand, dressed in his signature leather jacket, he felt the pressure. He convinced himself it was not Emma's presence there that was doing that to him. Emma stood at the front of the stage, announcing for him, and all he could think was that she got more beautiful with every minute.

"You are in for a real treat, Storybrooke. Give it up for Killian Jones."

Killian stepped up to the mic, giving Emma a thankful smile as she found a spot in the front. He adjusted his strap, about to speak into the mic, when Neal called out from the crowd. "Nice guitar."

He had it. This guy hurt Emma. No one should ever even think about that. But now, after everything he had done to Emma, he was still not satisfied. He still wanted to cause her more pain. This guy got what he deserved.

Killian leaned into the mic. _Let me cut right to the chase._ He sang.

This was definitely a bad idea.

 _Emma, when I see your beautiful face. I can't help but ask myself_

He directed his attention to Neal, pulling one hand on the guitar to point at him.

 _Why?_

 _And If I did not need this gig, I sweat I would flip my lip. And already, Neal would be nursing a black eye._

The entire audience erupted in laughter, including Tamara, who probably had a few too many glasses of wine. Neal seemed uncomfortable and Emma pressed a hand over her mouth, either out of embarrassment or to stop from laughing. He went with the later.

 _It seems like such a waste, to let him in the way, of what you and I might have some day._

 _I'm not gonna quit you, baby. I'm not gonna split you baby. I'd rather give you up than watch you die._

The crowd started clapping, rising to their feet, but Killian kept his attention on Emma, who was being pushed to also stand by someone who was sitting next to her. Emma's smile grew a bit more when she stood and made eye contact with Killian. That only encouraged him to sing more.

 _I know loss hurt more than a little, but he split you down the middle._

 _It's time to give good love a try._

 _It would be such a pity, to split you fifty fifty._

 _Especially with some guy who makes fun of my guitar, shows up at this thing when he knows you are gonna be here, is scared of your dad and breaks up with the most beautiful girl in the world for the stupidest reason in the world kind of guy_

The audience lost it after that, cheering and hollering. Neal apparently had had enough, grabbing Tamara by the arm and leading her out of there. His girlfriend had apparently sobered by than judging by the look on her face. As much satisfaction as he took out of eliciting a response from Neal, his real focus was Emma.

 _Emma, you and I could bloom, in no time._

* * *

Killian did not see Emma until the rest of the show was over. He had been saying hello to people, taking pictures and getting to meet the people of the town when she came up to him, a large white box in her hands. He opened it to reveal a few bottles of wine.

"I know it's not rum or whatever a rockstar likes, but it is a thank you."

"Aye, well, rum in a fine thing, but the wine will be amazing. Especially since it came from you." He smiled at her, grabbing a cd from his pile and handing one to her. "I have something for you too."

"My song on here?" She asked, teasingly as she took it.

"I'm sorry about that love." He scratched behind his ear.

"No" Emma shook her head. "It's alright. I-"

"Not without talking with your father first." He cut her off. She gave him a questioning look. "It seems that your father would want to be spoken with."

"He would. I don't agree with it too much."

"You're a strong, lass. I like that. I still want his blessing though."

Emma ran a hand through her hair. "You need the blessing for marriage, not for one date."

"We are going to have more than one date." He informed her, stating the fact as if it were common knowledge.

"What makes you think that we will have more than one date?" She asked him.

"I just know."

* * *

(They had more than one date.)

(They got married.)

(It is on her father's vineyard.)

(He writes her another song the next morning.)


	24. Five Times Emma Swan Lost Killian Jones

**I have not written anything angsty in a while, so here is this little one shot. The fluff should resume after this.**

 **For more fluff (and angst) check out my story "In the Midst". Chapter 24 was just uploaded yesterday.**

 **Enjoy!**

 _The Five Times Emma Swan Lost Killian Jones_

The first time Emma Swan lost Killian Jones it was fake. Her father, or a cruel portrait of him, ran him through with his sword, vengeance in his eyes. Emma tried to remember it was not real, just an alternate universe.

It did not work though. She kept seeing him die, his last moments playing over and over in her mind. The pain killed her, knowing that she had never once told him how she truly felt, how much he meant to her. Even in a timeline where he did not remember her he was still willing to sacrifice everything for her and she could not even tell him how much she cared for him.

The second time Emma Swan lost Killian Jones she was in denial. They were supposed to have a future, but that dream was cut by Excalibur. The wound on his neck was deep and incurable. With Killian's loss of blood, Emma lost all sense of reason. She would do whatever it took to keep him with her. They would have their future no matter what it took.

Even if whatever it took was darkness. Emma did not care what happened to her, as long as he got a chance to live. But the darkness changed him and transformed him into someone she did not even know. He was not the man she had lost.

The third time Emma Swan lost Killian Jones it was her fault. This time, it was her that ran him through with a sword, tears in her eyes. He whispered "It's Okay" and "I love you" as she ended his life, letting him die a hero.

This time he died the man she loved, which made it hurt all the more. Their future was gone.

The fourth time Emma Swan lost Killian Jones was the first time she lost him knowing they were true love. They were in the pits of the Underworld, trying desperately to save him. The fact that they were in fact true love warmed Emma's heart, but the idea of having to lose him just moments after that revelation killed her.

The guilt ate her up inside, but she did not show it. She had to be strong-for Henry, for her family, for herself. Killian wanted her to get home safe and not put that armor back on and for him she would try.

The fifth time Emma Swan lost Killian Jones was in his sleep. He passed quietly, laying in a hospital bed after seeing his loved ones. He had joked with her earlier in the day that he might have to break his promise and leave her, just this once, but Emma told him that even death could not separate them.

It was different this time, knowing how much time they had been able to have. She could not look at his limp body without thinking of their life together. Their children mourned his death and the rest of the heroes that were living, along with new ones who had come up along the way, honored the death of a brave fighter. Killian Jones was a name that would always be remembered in Storybrooke.

Though it pained her to see him go, she knew it would be the last time she would have to lose him. She passed a few months later and they were reunited, able to move on together. In the light, their youthful bodies were returned to them, giving them a chance to relive their story.

Only this time, she would not have to lose him. Ever.


	25. A Man and His Rum

When they first found out Emma was pregnant, Killian was ecstatic. They had talked about having children a time or two, but the pregnancy was pretty much a surprise. Despite that, they were excited all the same.

It did not take long, however, for Emma to remember the downsides of being pregnant. No coffee, she _had_ to get more rest, and no alcohol.

Emma had never been an avid, but her husband on the other hand had an affinity for rum. She would often take a swig from his flask or he would pour a bit of the liquid into her hot chocolate when they spent nights together alone, wrapped up on the couch watching movies and talking.

One night, a few weeks after they found out about the baby, that was the situation she found herself in. Henry was spending the night with Regina, leaving Emma and Killian alone in the big house for the night. They were settling down for a comfortable night in when Emma notified Killian of her new diet change.

He was about to pour a pit of his rum into their hot chocolates when she said, "No thanks, babe."

His eyebrow shot up in question. "Why, love, you love rum in your drink. Are you feeling ill?"

The concern that he showed for her made her heart swell. "No, I'm fine. But I can't have alcohol while I'm pregnant. It's bad for the baby."

Killian nodded and placed the cap back onto his flask, before going to the garbage can and dropping it in.

"What are you doing?" Emma questioned.

"Well, if you must abstain from rum, so shall I." He stated casually as he returned to where their mugs were.

"Killian, you can still drink it." Emma explained. "I just can't because it affects the baby's development."

"I know, love. But if you must give it up for the child, I will do it with you."

Emma let out a little laugh. "You sure, pirate? It's a lot easier said than done? Especially for someone who has basically been living on rum for the past two hundred years."

He moved towards her and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her against him. "Why, Swan, you wound me. You have so little faith in me."

"I believe in you. I just know how much you love your rum."

"Not as much as I love you, Swan."

Emma leaned back to see his face. "Okay, mister. No rum until the baby is born."

"I've told you before, lass. I love a challenge."

* * *

Somehow, by some strange force, Killian was better at staying away from alcohol than Emma. There were many days that she would almost forget the she was pregnant (how she did not know because there was a huge bump at her stomach) and would almost indulge in the liquid. Killian, however, had not slipped once. He took all of the rum that he had in the house onto the ship for safekeeping so that neither he nor Emma would be tempted.

At dinners with her parents, he would let them know that he and Emma would not be drinking.

He subtly encouraged David to take the majority of the calls that the sheriff station received from the Rabbit Hole. Not that Emma could complain though. Not having to deal with a drunken Leroy was a plus for her.

In fact, Killian had been a perfect gentleman throughout the duration of her pregnancy. Almost to a fault. When the hormones set in, she would get frustrated that he was so good at staying away from all of the foods that were bad for pregnant mothers while she, who had been pregnant before, often found herself struggling.

In those moments, when the mood swings would take their toll, he would just calmly remind her that all they were giving up would be worth it when they held their child for the first time.

And he was right.

(Of course he was right. He was always right. Not that Emma would ever admit that.)

When they first held their little Evie, their small bundle of joy, the months of not having her favorite foods and drinks was the farthest thing from her mind. All she could focus on what the little girl in her arms.

And when Killian proudly stated that this was a moment worth celebrating, she could not deny him a swig from his flask, even though she still would not be able to have a sip until she was done breastfeeding.

Besides, who was she to separate a man and his rum?

* * *

 **Reviews?**


	26. Inked

**New oneshot! I knew several people who did this and thought it was quite fitting for our Emma and Killian.**

 **Also, make sure to check out my story Retrograde. Chapter 12 just came out earlier today!**

* * *

 _Inked_

It did not take either of them long to realize they had more of an affinity towards ink than physical objects.

For as many rings as Killian had, he had more tattoos. Each ring and necklace had a story, and so did every ring. Emma on the other hand, only had her one tattoo, right on her right, and wore few necklaces, all symbolizing her past.

They were laying on the couch one night when they thought of it, the TV buzzing but neither of them really paying any attention to it. Emma's head lay on his chest and Killian ran his hand through her hair. Emma played with her hands, toying with the ring that now called her left hand home.

It had been shortly after they arrived home from the Underworld. The first few days had mainly been spent sleeping, something neither of them had done in far too long. And then they had the problem of Hyde, the Evil Queen, and Jafar-because one villain was not enough. Most days Emma and Killian were exhausted and took little time for themselves. David and Mary-Margaret pushed them to just take a night to themselves and the couple was more than happy to comply.

A simple night of stargazing on the deck of the Jolly turned into more than Emma could have imagined. What was supposed to be a night of relaxation turned into him promising his life to her and asking for her's in return. Of course, she said yes. The question had clearly been buzzing in his head for a while, probably a thought he considered while they were trying to save him from the Underworld.

"You don't have anymore free fingers," Emma whispered over the sound of the movie in the background.

"What's that, love?" He hummed and looked down at her.

"All the fingers on your right hand have rings on them."

"So?"

She sat up a bit. "In this realm, guys normally get a wedding ring too."

"Ah." He said. "And the lass still gets another one too?"

"Yeah. It's kinda weird, but it's tradition. I don't know how it all came about really-" She rambled.

"Do you want another ring, love?" He cut her off with a small smile.

She shrugged her shoulders. "I would be fine without another one. I'm not a huge jewelry person. But it doesn't matter to me. I'm not marrying you just to get a ring."

"That's comforting, love." He teased, earning him a shove. "Love, if you don't want to worry about another set of rings, then don't. I only want you to be happy."

They sat still for a few moments, the only noise from the ignored movie. She finally said, "What about tattoos?"

He raised an eyebrow in question. "Love, I don't think tattoos are exactly traditional for weddings in this realm."

"Since when have we been traditional," She snorted. "There was this kid I went to high school with for a few months- Carly. Her sister was getting married and that was all she talked about. Her sister and her fiance decided to get ring tattoos instead of actual rings. He was a tattoo artist and it meant for to them. Plus, you never have to worry about losing it, so that's a plus for when we are battling fairy tale creatures."

"Always the practical one, you are, my love." He laughed. "I must admit, ink has always been more my route."

"Okay, then it's settled." She stated. "Unless you'd rather go the more traditional-"

He cut her off with a quick kiss. "You were right when you said we've never been traditional. Why start now, love?"

* * *

They accepted the fact that there was no real way to hide the tattoos from each other, so they did not even try. They decided to not go together. Emma went in the morning and Killian went in the afternoon and would see the tattoos once they had healed.

Emma knew she wanted something simple, nothing to flashy or too big. Her other tattoo-her buttercup- had been an impulse, but it was small and easy to hide if need be. Not that she would ever want to hide this tattoo.

She did not look the entire time it was being done, instead talking to her mother, who had accompanied her, or making faces at her little brother. The process went by quicker than she thought and the artist let her look at her hand to see if she liked it.

She loved it. It was small, like she wanted, but meaningful. She had chosen to get his initials, _KJ_ , in calligraphy on the inside of her ring finger on her left hand. The ink rested right about her engagement band and the bold black letters signified her eternal promise to Killian.

Now she just had to wait to see what Killian came up with.

* * *

It was one night while they were making dinner that he thought they should just go ahead and show the other one. Henry was at Regina's for the night so they were alone for their revelations.

After dinner, they both took of the bandages that they had (begrudgingly) worn on the tattoos. Killian, ever the gentleman, insisted Emma show him first. "Ladies first, love."

She rolled her eyes and shakily held out her hand to show him. It was a bit nerve racking. Would he like it? Was it too small? Did he truly think the whole tatoo idea was stupid and was just doing it to appease her?

Her unease was remedied when he leaned in quickly and kissed her, then leaned his forehead against hers. "I love it, Swan. Almost as much as I love you."

She smiled. "I love you too. Now, enough sweet talk, sailor. Show me yours."

He leaned back and rolled up his left shirt sleeve with his right hand. Around his left wrist was a gold band tattoos across the circumference of his wrist. She took his hook tentatively in her hands to inspect the tattoo. On the back, read "My Love" and when she flipped his wrist she saw, below his scars and veins, her name, "Emma Swan" written in cursive that was definitely his.

"Killian-" The emotion got to her voice, so she just pulled herself to his chest. He was more than receptive and wrapped his arms around her. "It's beautiful, Killian."

"The entire time I was getting all I could think was how much I wanted to marry you. I love you, Emma." He kissed the top of her head.

"I can't wait to marry you either." She whispered. "I love you too."

* * *

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	27. Thank you Brother

**Short little one shot that popped into my head about Killian talking to Liam using the Ale that Merida gives him. Note, it is called the Ale of Seonaidh because that is the original name (Seonaidah is the land it hales from)**

 **Make sure to check out my multi chapter fic Retrograde which was just updated the other day!**

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 _Thank you Brother_

Killian let out a low sigh as he opened as he opened the container of ale and poured the last of its remnants over the makeshift memorial that had been set up after their stay in the Underworld. He stepped back, the now empty container that Merida had given him and Emma at their wedding a few years prior in his hands. The Ale of Seonaidh had been a precious gift from the Queen and now he was using what was left of it.

It did not take long for a figure to appear in front of him. Even though he had been the one to summon the person, it did not stop the gasp that escaped his mouth. "Liam."

"Brother." Liam said in a reassurance that he was actually there.

"I didn't know if it would work." He explained, flustered. "You had already moved on and the ale-"

His older brother cut him off. "Magic is not as black and white as you might think brother."

"I wanted to see you again." Killian breathed out. "One more time."

Liam nodded. "I see you made it back to your world in one piece."

The memories of his return to this world flooded in and Killian could not help but give a small smile. Even though it had been hard at the time and things did not go as planned, he was back and that was all he could ask for. "Aye. We defeated Hades and Zeus rewarded me with my life."

Liam hummed. "I assume Emma was much pleased. How is she?"

"Bloody brilliant as always."

"You finally buckle up and marry her or do you need to die again in order to make that happen?" Even after everything, Liam could joke about his situation. For that, Killian was glad.

"I asked six months after we got home and we wed six months after that."

"And children? Or did Emma have enough sense to not let you influence any tiny humans."

"You met Henry in the underworld. Fine lad he is." Henry and Killian had grown closer after their return to Storybrooke and he was thankful for his fatherly role in the boy's life. He knew he could never replace Neal and he never wanted to. He simply wanted to give to the boy what he and Neal both never got. "And than we had two of our own. Evie is almost three and Liam is a few months old?"

"Liam?' His brother asked and he could tell there was emotion caught in his voice.

"Aye. We thought it only fitting. Wanted him to be strong and brave like his uncle."

"Thank you, Killian." Liam smiled.

"Tell me brother," Killian took a step closer to his brother. "Tell me you are happy."

"I am. I can sail to my heart's content here. They don't call it paradise for nothing you know."

Liam's figure started to twitch and become like what Emma and Henry called static. He knew from what Merida told him about the Ale that it meant that he was losing the connection between worlds. "No-"

"It's alright brother." Liam assured him. "I'll be fine."

"Liam, you should-" Killian choked out through the tears that were starting to form.

Liam shook his head. "What's done is done. I am happy now and I want you to be happy to. Be a husband to Emma and a father to those children of yours. Give them what we did not have as children. Be the hero, Kilian. You've earned it." With each and every word, Liam started to leave more and more.

"Liam-" Killian yelled as the picture completely faded.

Killian stood in silence for a few moments, not able to move or speak. That would be the last time he saw Liam before he moved on as well. He had lived for such a long time without his brother and now, even though he knew that Liam was in a better place, it felt as if he had lost him again. His brother was happy though, in a place with no more pain or death, and that was all he could ask for Liam.

He took a step back on the grassy plain and looked at the tombstone Emma suggested they put in a few years ago to honor Liam. He walked over to it, placing his hand on the top before whispering one last thing to Liam.

"Thank you brother."

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